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TREATISE
O N
cattle:
Shewing the moft approved Methods of
Breeding, Rearing, and Fitting for Use,
Horses,
Sheep,
Asses,
Goats,
Mules,
and
Horned Cattle,
Swine ;
With directions for
The proper Treatment of them in their feveral Diforders :
To which is added,
A Dissertation on their Conta gious Diseases.
Carefully coIJefted from the bell Authorities, and
interfperfed with Remarks,
By J O H N M I L L S, Efq.
Fellow of the Royal Society of London, Honorary Member
of the Dublin Society, of the Royal Societies of Agri-
culture at Paris and Rouen, of the Oeconomical Society
of Berne, and of the Palatine Academy of Sciences and
Belles-Lettres.
DUBLIN:
Trlnted for W. Whitestone, J. Potts, J. Hoey,
W. CoLLES, W. Wilson, R. Moncrieffe, T.
Walker, C. Jenkin, and C. Tai^bot.
MDCCLXXVI.
Thsrouj,
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','1803.
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P Ro£e F 4hiS: E
THIS AV^ork was firft written feveral years
ago, and delivered to the Publifher, in or-
der to its being printed then as a Continuation of
rny Syftem of Hufbandry : but, unhappily for
Mr. Johnfon, a dreadful fire confumed his houfe
in Pater-nofter Row, together with his valuable
Stock in Trade, and my comparatively infignifi-
cant manufcript. A rough Copy of it chancing,
however, to remain among my other papers, for
it is feldom that I can reft fatisfied with the firft
writing of any thing that is to be laid before the
Public, a& his requeft I fat about recompofing it,
as fpeedily as an infirm ftate of health, and fome
unavoidable avocations which intervened, would
permit. The Treatife how offered to the Piibh'c
is the refultof that fecond labour; in the profe-
cution of which, the moft approved writers of
different countries, and the pradlical experience
of fome judicious friends in this, have been my
principal guides. To thefe laft in particular, 1
owe an acceffion of new materials, which were
not in my former Copy, and by means of which
this is confiderably enlarged, — I hope, to the ad-
vantage of the Public. Happy fhall I efteem myfelf,
if the execution of this part of my undertaking
fhould meet with the fame approbation as my
Five former Volumes have been honoured with.
A 2 Perfuad-
15741 ?
Iv T H E P R E F A C E.
Perfuaded, as lam, that no people in the world
excel, or perhaps even equal, the Englifh in the
whole of what relates to the management of Cat-
tle in general ; yet from a convidion that even
the moft experienced may gather at lead ufeful
hints from the different- pradlices of other nations,
I have occafionally fhewn wherein any fuch differ
from us in matters of importance, pointed out the
grounds of that difference, and endeavoured to
inveftigate the reafons on which it is founded.
Likewife, wherever I have quoted, or borroweci
from either ancient or modern writers, I have al-
ways mentioned the place referred to ; and if, as
hath not unfrequently been the cafe, I have feen
caufe to differ from them, I have affigned the rea-
fons for my diffent.
It is chiefly, indeed, from what relates to the
proper treatment of the various Accidents and
Difeafes to which all forts of Cattle are liable,
that I flatter myfelf the greatefl utility may be
derived from this work ; and in that, befides the
inflrudions I have been favoured with by a gen-
tleman of great ability in the pradice of Surgery,
as well as deeply fkilied in Medicine, I am confi-
dent, that neither of thofe excellent writers, Sir
John Pringle, Bart, and Mr. Samuel Sharpe, will be
offended at the liberty I have taken in apply-
ing to the brute Creation in fimilar cafes,
the plain and eafy directions which they have
given for the cure of the human fpecies. They
nobly aim at doing univerfal good ; and will
certainly agree with me, that, next to Man,
Cattle are juflly entitled to our tendernefs and
care, in return for the effential benefits we receive
from them.
This naturally leads me to regret, that we have
not in this Country fome Inftitution like that 6f
the Veterinarian School at Lyons, which is, by
P.oyal
THEPREFACE. v
Royal Authority, under the Infpedtion of a very
able Surgeon and good Phyfician, M. Bourgelut,
of whofe fuperior intelligence the reader will find
repeated proofs in this work. Humanity is mock-
ed at the barbarity and ignorance of the generali-
ty of Farriers ; and it were greatly to be wiihed,
that men of education and (kill would ceafe to
think the healing of Cattle an objetl beneath their
notice. Almoft every nation in Europe now fends
pupils to the Royal Veterinarian School at Lyons ;
and even fuppofing a pecuniary return to be the
principal objed aimed at by thofe who (hall have
completed their ftudies in that, or any fimilar Se-
minary, it cannot be doubted that their wifhes
Would be amply gratified.
Having before mentioned the Five Volumes of
my Syftem of Hufljandry, which were publillied
fomc years ago, I gladly embrace this opportunity
to inforhi the Public, that the imprellion being
novi>- difpofed of, and numbers exprefling a deftre
to fee it reprinted, a new Edition of it is now on
the point of being fent to the Prefs, in which all
po'lTible care has been taken to red\ify the Errors
that have been pointe;d out, arid thofe which I have
myielf difcovered, in the former Edition i to en-
rich it with the ellential improvements that have
fince been made in the feveral branches of Agrir.
culture, particularly the various new inflruments
invented for that purpofe ; to fit it more com-
pletely than before, for the ufe of the Pracltcnl
Hujhandmjn^ and in a word, to render it more
worthy of the Notice and Encouragement of the
Public.
C O N«
CONTENTS.
BOOK I.
Of Horses Page i
CHAP. I. How to jud^e of Horjes 2
CHAP. II. Of breeding, rearing, and fitting them
for ufe 57
CHAP. III. Of the Difenfes of Horfes. 75
PART I.
Of the internal Difeafes of Horfes ibid.
INTRODUCTION:
Containing fome general Rides for preferving the Health
of Horfes ibid.
Sect. I. Qf Bleeding, Purging, and Glyfl^r^ 85
Sect. II. Of a Cold 92
Sect. III. Of a Fever 98
Sect. IV. 0/ Fevers attended with hfiamtnations in
particu^r parts 1 1 4
Sect. V. 0/ Apoplexy, Epilepfy, Convuljions, Palfy,
and Lethargy 1 1 7
Sect. VI. Of Inflammations and other Dif orders of the
Eyes 1 22
Sect. VII. Of Diforders in the Noje 127
Sect. VIII. Of Difeafes of the Mouth and Throat.
Sect. IX. Of the Pleurify, and hflammation of the
Lungs 1 45
Sect. X. Of the Afihma and Broken-Wind i c^o
Sect. XI. Of the Colic, and Inflammation of the Bowels
154
Sect. XII. Of JVorms and Bots 1 57
S E c T . X 1 1 1 . 0/ Purging a nd AM ten Greafe 1 6 6
Sect. 'KlY. Of the Jaundice ' 170
Sect. XV. 0/ Diforders of the Kidneys and Bladder
171
PART II.
Of the External Difeafes of Horfes 176
INTRODUCTION: ibid.
Sect.
CONTENTS. vii
Sect. I. Of Bruifes Page 176
Sect. II. Of Strains and Luxations 179
Sect. III. 0/7^o««^i 186
S E c T . I V . Of Infiammatiotis and /^bfcejfes 1 9 1
Sect. V. Of Ulcers 198
Sect.VI. Of I'umours 208
Se c T . VII. Of Cutaneous Difeafes 2 1 5
Of Alterative Medicines 2 1 4
Of Hide-bound 219
Of the Surfeit and Mange 2 2 1
Of the Farcy 225
Sec t. VIII. Of Diforders of the Feet 2 29
Sect. IX. Of Venomous Bites 233
Sect. X. Of the Arthritis 239
Sect. XI. Of Gelding 240
^i.CT.X\\. Of Shoeing 241
BOOK II.
Of Asses. 242
BOOK III.
Of Mules 251
BOOK IV.
Of Horned Cattle. 256
CHAP. I. Of the general Properties and Ufes of Horned
Cattle ibid.
CHAP. II. Of the Choice of Cattle, and of fitting them
for Tillage 264
CHAP. III. Of Feeding, Fattening, and Tending of
Cattle 270
CHAP. IV. Of the Propagation of Cattle, Care of the
Cow isohilfi pregnant^ and Management of the Calf,
till Jit for Slaughter or for Work 2 8 1
CHAP. V. Of the Difeafes of Horned Cattle 288
BOOK V.
Of Sheep
CHAP. I. Of the polities and different Kinds of Sheep
295
CHAP.
VlU
CONTENTS.
CHAP. II. Of the Management of Sheep ^
CHAP. III. Of the Propagation of Sheep -355
CHAP. IV. Of theDiJeafes of Sheep 337
Sect. I. Of cutaneous Difeafes in Sheep ^4*
Sect. \\. Of Difeafes of the Head and Throat 344.
Sect. III. Of Coughs and Shortnefs of Breath 345
SpcT.IV. Of Difeafes of the Belly ^46
Sect. V. Of Difeafes of the Liver ibid.
Sect. VI. Of the Dropfy 349
BOOK VI.
Of Goats 352
BOOK VII.
Of Swine 359
CHAP. I. Of the CharaSIery Properties, andUfes of
Swine ■ ibid.
CHAP. II. Of Feeding and Fattening of Hogs ^6%
CHAP. III. Of the Propagation of Swine ^65
CHAP. IV. Of the Difeafes of Swine 369
BOOK VIII.
Of the contagious Diseases of Cattle 370
Of the Caiifes of the contagious Difeafes of Cattle 392
Of the Cure of the contagious Difeafes of Cattle 400
Additional Obfervations on the Difeafes of Cattle, and
on their Cures ; by the Royal Society of Agricuttwe
at Paris 423
P O S T S C R I P T. \
On the Symptoms and Cure of the late contagious Dif-
temper among the Horned-Cattle in England \ by Pe-
ter Layard, of Huntington, M. D. andF. R. S. 452
A T R E A-
A
TREATISE
O N
CATTLE.
BOOK I.
Of Horses.
TO treat this fubjedl with the greater clear-
nefs and precifion, I fhall divide it into three
general parts, or chapters: The firfl will
contain dire, there areufually three beats : but as in this mo-
tion, which is a kind of leap, the tore parts do not inimediaiely
move of themfelves, but are driven by the force of ihc haunches
and hinder parts ; if the off tore foot is to Irretch beyond the
near, the near hind foot nnift be grounded tirft, to ferve as a
fulcrum to this fpringing motion. Thus it is that the near hind
foot makes the hrft beat ot the motion, and alG touches the
ground firlt ; then the otfhind leg raifes iifelf jointly with the near
tore leg, and they both touch the ground again at the fame time ;
andlaltly, the off tore leg, which moved an inftant after the
near fore and off hinder legs, touches the ground the lall:, which
makes the third beat. In the gallop, there are therefore three
beats and two intervals j and in the firft of thefe intervals,
when the motion is performed with rapidity, there is an inftant
when all the fore legs are off the ground, and the horfe's four
fhoes are ken at the fame time. When a horfe has fupple
haunches and hocks, and moves them with fwiftnefs and agility,
the motion of the gallop is more complete, and the cadence made
at four times. Firft, he grounds the near hind foot, which de-
notes the firft beat ; next the off hind foot touches the ground
and denotes the fecond beat ; the near fore foot grounding an in-
ftant after, denotes the third beat j and laftly, the off fore foot,
which touches the ground the laft, denotes the fourth beat.
Whenhorfcs gallop, they generally lift the off fore foot up firft,
in the fame manner as they ufe the fame leg in the walk or trot,
and by fo doing they gain ground ; the off fore leg advancing
farther than the near, and being iiumediatcly foil ;vi'ed by the
off hind leg, which alfo advances beyond the near hind leg: butthe
refult cf this, conftantly continued during a long gallop, is, that
the near leg, fupporting the whole weight, and pufliing forward
the other, is the moft fatigued. It would therefore, be right
toaccuftom horfes to gallop alternately on the near and off leg ;
tor by this means they would hold out the longer in this violent
motion ; and accordingly it is fo praftifed in the heft riding-
ichools, though perhaps for another realon, which U, that as
the horfes are often made to fliift hands, that is, to defcribe
a circle, the centre of which i'= fometimes on the off, and fome-
times on the near fide, they are accordingly taught to gallop
fometimes on the off, and fometimes on the near leg.
proportion
26 A TREATISE on CATTLE,
proportion to the ftrength of the mufcles of the hocks ;
and moft equal when the horfe bears moft on his
haunches, and the fhoulders are fup ported by the
mufcles of the loins. Horfes which lift their fore-
legs to an unufual height when thev gallop, are not
the fwifteft goers ; for they flrike fhorter, and at the
fame time tire themfelves fooner. This ufually pro-
ceeds from a want of freedom in the Hioulders.
The walk, the trot, and the gallop, are the moll
common and natural paces : but fome horfes have a-
nother, which is called theambk. It is very different from
the three foiTner ; and at firft fight appears contrary
to the lawsof mechanifm. The motion here is not
fo fwift as the gallop, or even the trot. In this pace,
the horfe's feet move dill nearer to the ground than in
the walk, and are more extended : but what is mofl
fmgular in it is, that the two legs of the fame fide,
for inflance, the off hind and fore leg, move at the
fame time ; and then the two near legs, in making
another ftep, move at once •, and in this alternate
manner the motion is performed : fo that the two
fides of the body are alternately without fupport, or
any equilibrium between the one and the other, which
muH neceffarily prove very fatiguing to the horfe,
who is obliged to fupport himfelf in a forced ofcilla-
tion, by the rapidity of a motion in which his feet
are fcarcely off the ground. In this pace, the farther
the hind leg extends beyond the place where the fore
leg grounded, the better the horfe ambles, and the
more rapid is the whole motion. Thus in the moti-
on of the amble, as in the trot, there are only two
beats : but this pace can never be performed but up-
on even ground, and is extremely fatiguing to the
horfe, though very eafy to the rider *". They who
* The amble has not the roughnefs of the trot, becaufe, in the
amble, both the legs of the fame fide are lifted up together, fo
as to form but one motion ; whereas in the trot, the fore-leg of
the fame fide is at reft, and refifts the impulfe during the whole
time that the hinder leg is moved.
are
HORSES. 27
are {killed in horfemanfhip tell us, that horfes which
amble naturally never trot ; and that they are nnicli
weaker than others. Colts, indeed, very often pci-
form this pace; efpecially when they exert tlicmreh-es,
and are not ftrong enough to trot or gallop. Moil good
horfes which have been over-woiked, and are on the
decline, are alfo obferved voluntarily to amble, when
forced to a motion fwifter than the walk. Upon the
whole, the amble may be confidc^red as a defective
pace ; not being common, and natunl only to a very
few horfes, which, in general, are weaker than others.
But there are ftill two other paces, which weik or
over-worked horfes take to of themfelves, and are
much more f^iulty than the amble. Thefe, from
their defe(fls, have been called broken, difunited, or
compound paces. The firft is between the w'alk
and the amble ; and the fecond between the trot and
the gallop : both arc the effects of long fatigue, or
great weaknefs in the loins. Horfes ufed to carry
mails, by being frequently over loaded, take to the
former, inflead of the trot, v.hen on their decline j
and worn-out pofl horfes go into the latter when
urged to the gallop.
Another circumftance, and that one of the moft
eflential, to be attended to in the choice of a horfe, is
his age ; to judge of which Mr. de BufFoi has like-
wife fummed up, from the befh writers on this
fubjec^, the following concife but fure rules.
The moft certain knowledge of the age of a horfc
is to be obtained from his teetb^ of which he has forty,
\\2. twenty-four grinders, oi double teeth, foui talhes,
and twelve fore teeth: mares ha\'e no tufhes, at
leaft very fhort ones. It is not from the grind-
ers that the age is known : but it is difcovered,ds
firft by the fore-t.eth, and afterwar by the
tulhes. The tv/'elve fore-teeth begin to fhoot
within twelve days after the colt is foaled. Thefe
firft, ox foal teeth ^ are round, fhort, not very folid, and
are fhed at different times, to be replaced by others.
At
28 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
At the age of .two years and a half, tiie four middle
fore-teeth are fhed, viz. two in the upper jaw, and
two in the lower. In one year more, two others
drop out, one on each fide of the former, v/hich
have already been replaced. When he is about
four years and a half old, he fheds fjur
others, always next to thofe which have fallen
out and been replaced. Thefe foal-teeth are
replaced by four otliers ; but thefe laft are far from
growing fo faft as thofe which replaced the eight
former, and are called the corner teeth : they replace
the four laft foal teeth, and by them it is that the
age of a horfe is known. They are eafily diftin-
guiflied, being the third, both above and below,
counting from the midde of the jaw. They are hol-
low, and have a black mark in their cavity. When
the horfe is four years and a half old, they are hardly
vifible above the gum, and the cavity is very con-
fpicuous : at fix and a half they begin to fill, and the
mark continually diminifhes and contrails till feven
or eight years, when the cavity is quite filled up,
and the black fpot effaced. After eight years, thefe
teeth ceafing to afford any knowledge of the age, it
is judged of by the tuJJjes, which are four teeth, ad-
joining to thofe laft mentioned -, and, like the grin-
ders, are not preceded by any other teeth. The two
in the lower jaw ufually begin to fhoot at three years
and a half, and thofe of the upper jaw at four ; con-
tinuing very Iharp pointed till fix. At ten, the up-
per feem blunted, worn out, and long ; the gum con-
tradting as it's years increafe. The barer therefore
they are, the older is the horfe. From ten to thir-
teen or fourteen years, little can be feen to indicate
the age ; but at about this laft period, fume hairs of
the eye-brows begin to turn grey. This mark, how-
ever, is equivocal, as is alfo that drawn from the
depth of the eye-pits ; horfes from old ftallions, or
old mares, frequently having grey hairs in their eye-
brows when they are not above nine or ten years
old.
HORSES. 29
old, and hollow eye-pits when they are quite young.
In fome horfes, the teeth are fo hard as not to wear,
and in fuch the black fpot fubfifls as long as they
live : but the age of thefe horfes is eafily known by
the hollow of the tooth being filled up, and at the
fame time the tulhcs are very long. This is more
common in mares than in horfes. The age of a
horfe may alfo be known, though lefs exactly, by the
bars of his mouth, which wear away as he advances
in years.
Experience has fully proved, that no indication
whatever of the qualities of a horfe can be drawn
from the colour of his coat, as was formerly, for a
long time, wrongly imagined : the beft judges, and
moft accurate obfervers now fmile at that antiquated
prejudice, and unanimoully agree that there are good
horfes of all colours : fo that, in fad, die whole at-
tention due to the colour of a horfe, is only fo far as
relates to what is reputed beauty in him, and, con-
fequently to his price ; fome colours being highly
valued for their fingularity : for judgment has never
yet been able to make real beauty be preferred
to fingularity. I ihould therefore diimifs this
fubjccl: without any farther notice, were it not
that an explanation of the technical terms moil
commonly employed in defcribing the different co-
lours of a horfe, may not be unacceptable to fuch
readers as are not already acquainted with their
meaning. To this end, I fhall clafs them under three
general heads, namely, fimple colours, by which I
mean fuch as extend themfelves all over the hcrfe's
body, without any mixture of others ; compound co-
lours, that is, thofe mixed with others ; and extraor-
dinary colours, or in other words, fuch as are of an
uncommon mixture. The fimple colours are the
white, the dun, the forrel, the bay, and the black :
the compound are the grey, the moufe, and the roan ;
and the extraordinary comprehend the tyger, the pi-
ed, the ftrawberry, and the flea-bitten. I fhall begin
with
^o A TREATISE on CATTLE.
with the mod common and mod natural, which
is the bay. Indeed, if we reflet^ that the yellow,
the bay, the brown, or the fallow, are the* moft
iifual, and therefore the moll natural colours of wild
animals ; and that the bay, compofed of tints of
thofe colours, is the moft common to horfes, we may
readily incline to tb.ink that if thefe creatures were al-
fo wild, they would all be bay, at leaft in our climate.
The other colours belong to them only as domeftic
animals.
The bay refembles in colour a reddifh chefnut,
with feveral gradations, diftinguifhed by the follow-
ing terms ; the bright bay, the light and dark chef-
nut, the brown bay, the yellow bay, the blood bay,
and the bright dappled bay. The brown bay is a
very dark brown, almoft black, except the flanks
and the tip of the nofe, where the hair has a reddifli
caft. The yellow bay needs no defcription. The
dappled bays are thofe whofe rumps are marked with
a deeper bay than any other part. The term dap-
pled is alfo applied to chefnuts which are variegated
with clearer fpots of a brighter bay, or rather to thofe
whofe rump is marked with fpots of a darker bay.
The manes and tails of all bay horfes are black. The
bright bay ufed to be accounted phlegmatic, the
yellow bay bilious, and the brown bay ftill more bi-
lious and fplrited.
Black horfes are little lefs common than bay ones.
They are of three different forts as to colour, viz.
the rufty, the common, and the jet. The firft of
thefe has a brown or rufty caft, and is perhaps more
properly a fpecies of brown bay. The flanks and
extremities of thefe rufty blacks are of a paler colour
than that of the reft of the body ^ and for this rea-
fon they ufed to be deemed inferior in point of qua-
lity to the other blacks. The jet, or bright black,
is clear, fletk, and very black. There is likev/ife
a very' fhining black, which is, in fome particulars,
diftinguiftiablc from the jet.
The
HORSES. 31
The dun colour is of a yellow ifh hue. The manes
and tails of fome of the horfes of this colour are
white ; in others they are compofed of dun and
black ; and in others again they are entirely black.
Thefe laft, in particular, have always all along the
fpine of the back to the tail a black lilt, generally
called the mule's lift. The dun hasalfo feveral gra-
dati(>ns : that in which the yellow is leaft prevalent,
is called cream^ and is in fa<5t a dull yellowifh white.
The bright dun has a little more yellow in it's mix-
ture ; the common dun has ft ill more ; the golden
dun is of a yet brighter yellow ; and the dark dun
is of a duller or deeper colour.
The wolf-colour is of two forts, clear and dark :
both have tinges of dun, and fometimes the mule's
lift. The dark coloured ufed to be reckoned the beft
horfes.
The foirel is a kind of ruflet bay, or cinnamon
colour. There are feveral gradations of it ; namely,
the bright forrel, refembling the common colour of
a cow ; the common forrel, which is a medium be-
tw^een brown and light ; the bay forrel, inclining to
red or ruflfet ; the dark and the duft forrel, which is
very deep and brown. In fome of thefe horfes the
mane and tail are white, and in others black. The
common forrel ufed formerly to be held in fo high
eftimation, that the Spaniards were wont to fay, pro-
verbially, *' a forrel horfe is fooner dead than tired."
A lighter colour in it's extremities than in it's body,
was looked upon as a mark of weaknefs. The
lighter forrels were lefs efteemed, though all reputed
good upon the faith of their colour ; and the dark or
aduft were fuppofed to be melancholic and docile.
The roan is a mixture of red and white, or of
white, a dull grey, and a bay. It is diftinguifhed
into three kinds, the common roan, the red roan,
and the dark roan. The head and extremities of
horfes of this colour are generally white, or, accord-
ing to fome authors, of a dull grey, and the body
roan.
32 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
roan. It iifed to be taken for granted, that a roan
liorfe mud be excellent if his extremities were black.
Grey horks are divided into feveral forts, as dap-
pled grey, filver grey, dufty grey, brown grey, &c.
according as their coats are more or lefs intermixed
with white and black, bay or brown. Dappled
greys are diflinguilhed by feveral round fpots, fome
blacker, and others whiter, pretty equally fcattered
over the rump and other parts of the body. The
filver greys have very few black hairs, and thofe
thinly fown on a fleek white ground, fhining almofl
like filver. In the dufty greys, there is a confidera-
ble mixture of brown and black with the white.
White manes and tales are reckoned a great orna-
ment to horfes of this colour. The iron grey have
a great deal of black, and little white. The nutmeg
grey is a mixture of bay, black, and white. The
vinous grey is all over mixed with bay. The front-
ed grey has a white coat decorated with dark reddifh
fpots pretty equally difperfed over the head and bo-
dy. The thrufh grey, fo called from it's refemblance
to the colour of the bird of that name, has a dirty
look, and is compofed of a reddifh coat thickly in-
termixed with black and white. The flarling grey,
likewife fo called from it's fimilitude to the colours
of the bird of that name, has a browner tindt than the
dull grey ; and the fame appellation is ftill given to it
when ithas a yet much larger mixture of black. Coal-
grey horfes have a white or greycoat, with irregularly
fcattered black fpots, as large as the palm of the
hand. When thefe fpots are larger than common,
the horfes fo marked are diftinguillied by the name
of iy^ers. Moufe-grey horfes have generally black
extremities, and the mule's lift. White colts are
rare -, but the bay or black hairs of all grey horfes
whiten as they advance in years. The antient opini-
on was, that neither the dappled greys, nor the ty-
gers are fo good as the coal-greys ; that the filver-
greys are dull and phlegmatic j that the thrulh-greys
are
HORSES. 3S
are better than the dappled-grey s ; and that the vin-
ous greys are the beft of all greys.
The colour called porcelain is a grey mixed with
fpots of a blueilli flate colour, not unlike blue and
white china. Horfes of this colour are fcarce, and
ufed to be reckoned good, but capricious.
The peavb hlojjom is a mixture of bay,. white, and
forrel, in fuch proportion as to refemble, in fome de-
gree, the colour of the bloflbms of the peach tree.
Horfes of this colour were thought to be apt to grow
blind.
Pied horfes have a coat of white and other colours,
irregularly mixed with large fpots. The common
pie is white and black ; the bay pic, white and bay ;
and the forrel pie, white and forrel. All pied hor-
fes were formerly deemed good, becaufe they were
pies • and thofe which had the leaft white in them
were reckoricd beft.
Now, whatever the colour of a horfe be, thofe
which have black manes and tails are moft valued,
chiefly indeed becaufe they are thought handfomeft;
and, on the contrary, thofe whofe flanks and extre-
mities are of a colour lefsdeep than that of the body,
are leaft efteemed.
A white mark in the forehead of a horfe is called a
ftar^ and is more or lefs large : but if it extends from
the forehead to the nofe, it is called a blaze. This
white mark is not pleafmg vhen it interferes with
the eye-brows, nor when it reaches to the tip of the
nofe. The flar, the blaze, and the white on the tip of
the nofe are fometimes found in the fame animaJ.
There are feveral methods of making ftars by art,
that is, of changing die natural colour of the hair into
white; and in particular it may be done either by
cutting off the fkin, or by burning it-, for the hair
which grows again, after the wound is healed, will
be white. There are alfo feveral ways of dying
white eye-brows, or grey or white hairs, into bay or
black : but this lafts no longer than till fnoding time,
D that
34^ A TREATISE on CATTLE.
that is to fay, the feafon when horfes change their
coats ; the new hair being always of it's natural co-
lour.
When the lower part of a horfe's leg is white, he
is faid to be balzane, or white-footed : when this
white is fringed or irregularly dentilated at the top,
it is called a dentilated balzane ; and if it is fpotted
with black, it is termed an ennined, or patched bal-
zane, or an ermined leg. If the white reaches too
near theTsinee or hock, the horfe is faid to be too bi^h
/hod : if the lower part of the hind and fore leg of the
fame fide is white, he is faid to be but indifferently
marked; but if the balzanes are on the off fore leg and
near hind leg, or on the near fore leg and off hind leg,
he is faid to be traver/ed or crofs marked : and laftly,
if all the fore legs are white, he is faid to have four
white Jlockin^s.
It is not poffible to defcribe all the tindls, mixtures,
and gradations of the feveral colours of horfes ; nor
can the fize or form of all the fpots and marks ob-
ferved on fome of them be minutely defined : but
with regard to thofe in particular of which we have
been fpeaking, and the fame is equally applicable to
all others, M. de Buffon declares it to be his opinion,
that the marks or fpots which we fee on the face of
feveral horfes often deceive us by a falfe appearance,
in that they change the afpedl of the animal, and,
as it were, difguifehim : for inftance, horfes with a
white blaze have been thought capricious ; and tliat
for no other reafon, than becaufe the contraft of co-
lours gives them a fmgular appearance, as fears on
the face of a man give him a harfher look : and that
of a ftar in the forehead of a horfe is accounted a
good fign, it is only when it is in the middle, in which
fituation it is rather a beauty than a defecft. As to
the white {lockings, he thinks that their being fo
much noticed is owing to their being fituated on the
legs, by the frequent motion of which they attraifl
the fight more than other fpots ; and that if they
have
HORSES. 35
have been generally taken for bad indications, it is
only becaiife their white feet, being more confpicu-
Giis, fecm to pafs clofer together than thofe of other
colours : hence the notion of thefe horfes being more
apt to ftumble ; whereas thofe which have ftockings
on all their four legs are not included in this fufpici-
on, there not being the fame apparent inequality in
their going. But it would be necdlefs to dwell any,
longeron this fiibje6l, and combat prejudices, which
the moft experienced horfemen have amply refuted.
Their examples will be more pov/erful than reafon,
to undeceive others ; and truth being once known,
time alone will gradully extirpate error.
The feather^ which is reckoned an ornament in a
•liorfe, and by fome looked upon as a mark of good-
nefs, is a point where the hairs part as from a centre,
and revert fo as to form a fmall conic cavity, nearly
in the fame manner as the petals, of a fingle flower,
particularly a pink. The forehead, the breaft, and
the belly, are the places where thefe feathers moft
commonl}- are ; though fome horfes have them like-
wife m other parts. Sometimes alfo two or three of
them are feen together on the forehead, or on the
hinder bend of the thigh.
The Roman jword^ fo called from it's refemblance
to the fword ufed by the antient Romans, is in fa6l-
nothing more than a long feather, or a kind of fur-
row formed by the hair being inverted, running
along the top of the neck, near the mane. This
mark is very rare, and accounted a great beauty ;
for which reafon thofe horfes which have it are
bought up at almoft any rate by thofe who pique
themfelves on being uncommonly curious in ahorfe's
coat. A Roman fword on each fide of the mane
makes a great addition to the price of a horfe.
Three farther circumftances, the firft highly pro-
per at leaft, and the two laft eflentially neceflary to
be attended to in the choice of a horfe, are, it's
country and pedigree, if it be a fine horfe that is
D 2 wanted ^
^6 A TREATISE ok CATTLE.
wanted ; the ufes for which it is fit -, and care to
guard againil the artifices by whicli the iinlkilfiil are
liable to be deceived.
The feveral breeds of horfes have been fo much
Intermixed and the charaders which would otherwife
diftinguiOi thofe of each climate thereby fo blended,
that long pradtice, and very great experience, are
requifitenow to know the horfes of different countries.
All the information that we can have on this head,
is drawn from travellers, and from the writings of
the moft expert horfemen, fuch as the duke of New-
caflle, Meflrs. Garfaalt, de la Gueriniere, SoUeyfel,
&c. and fome remarks, communicated by M. Pig-
nerolles, equerry to the king of France, and direct-
or of the academy at Angers, to M. de Buffon, •
whom I ftill continue to make my principal guide.
The finefb horfes that we know of are the Arabian.
They are larger and fuller than the Barbs, and not in-
ferior to them in fhape. But as few of them, efp=-
cially of the true mountain breed, are brought into
this country, there have not yet been fufticient op-
portunities for making circumftantial obfervations on
their perfections and defeats.
The Barbs are more common than the Arabians
in this part of the world. Their cheft is long and
flender, and rifes beautifully from the withers :
they have little manes, the head well fliaped, fmall,
and lean ; the ears handfome and well placed ; the
(houlders flat and llender ; the withers narrow and
plump ; the back ftrait and fliort ; the flank and
fides round and not bulging out ; the haunches firm
and well fhaped; the croup generally fomevvhat long,
and the tail pretty high placed ^ the thigh well fhap-
ed, and feldom flat ; the legs handfome, well fliap-
ed, and without hair at the paftern joint; the foot
well made, but die paflern often too long. They
are of all colours, but moft commonly grey. The
Barbs are fomewhat negligent in their goings ; but,
when properly encouraged, they fhew an amazing
fwiftnefs
HORSES. 37
fwlftnefs and vigour ; they are very light, and fit for
running ; and feem of all others the mod proper to
breed from. It might liowever be wifhed that they
v/ere fomewhat taller, the largefl being but fourteen
hands high : for fourteen hands and an inch is very
extraordinary. Experience has fhewn that in Eng-
land, France, bzc. they beget colts larger than them-
fehes. The mountain Barbs are accounted the beft,
and next to them are thofe of the kingdom of Mo-
rocco. The horfes of the reft of Mauritania are
of an inferior quality, as are likcwife diofe of Turkey,
Perfia, and Armenia.
The 7'urki/h horfes are not fo well proportioned
as the Barbs : their heck is flender, their body long,
and their feet are too thin -, but yet, notvvithftand-
ing thefe di fad vantages, they will endure great fa-
tigue, and are long-winded : nor indeed is this to
be wondered at, if we confider, that the bones of
ell animals are harder in hot climates than in cold
ones, and that, therefore, though their (hank bones
are fmaller than thofe of the horfes of this country,
their legs are ftronger. It is alfo worth noticing,
that the coats of all hairy nnimals are fhorter and
fmoother in hot countries than in cold ones.
The Spar.ijh horfes, which are ranked next to the
Barbs, have a long thick neck, with a large mane ;
the head full big, and fometimes the fore-top large ;
the ears long, but well placed ; the eyes full of fire,
and the air noble and fpirited : the Ihoulders thick,
and thecheft broad ; theback frequently fomewhatlow;
the ribs round, but the belly often too large ; the croup
generally round and large, though in fome longifh ;
the legs beautiful and void of hair ; the fmew well
detached ; the paflern fometimes longifh like that
of the Barbs, the foot a little lengthened like that of
a mule ; and the heel often too high. The fine-bred
Spanifh horfes are plump, nicely fet, and place their
legs well on the ground ; they have alfo a great deal
of motion in their paces, with much agility, fire, and
D 3 ftatelinefs.
38 A TREATISE on CATTLE
ftatelinefs. They are generally black, or of a light
chefnut ; though there are fome of all the ufual co-
lours of horfes ; but it is very rare to fee any of
them with white legs or white nofes ; the Spaniards
having fuch a diflike to thefe marks, that they never
breed from horfes which have them. A ftar in the fore-
head is all that they require ; but they efteem horfes
of one entire dark colour as much as we difregard
them. Both thefe prejudices, though oppofite, are
perhaps equally ill founded, there being very good
horfes with all kind of marks ; and fome excellent
among thofe which are all of one colour. The
Spanifh horfes are all marked on the off thigh with
the mark of the ftud where they were bred. They
are, in general, under-fized ; though fome rife to
fourteen hands and one or two inches. Thofe of up-
per Andalufia are reckoned the beft of all, though
they are apt to have too long a head : but this blem-
ifh is overlooked in confideration of their excellent
qualities,fuch as courage, gracefulnefs, obedience, and
ambition ; and in adlivity they excel even the
Barbs, Thefe advantages recommend them above all
other horfes in the world, whether for war, for
flate, or for the riding-fchool.
The Italian horfes were formerly much finer than
they now are, the fluds in Italy having been neg-
leded for fome time paft. The kingdom of Na-
ples, indeed, ftill affords fine horfes, efpecially for
carriages ; but they have, in general, large heads
and thick necks : they are alfo indocile, and confe-
quendy difficult to be trained. Thefe defedsare,
however, in fome degree, compenfated by the large-
nefs of their fize, their fpirit, and the beauty of
their motions. They affed great flatelinefs, and are
therefore excellent for parade.
The Damjh horfes are fo large, and fo well fet,
that they are preferred to all others for coach-
horfes. Some of them are perfedly well mould-
ed, but, in general, they have a thick neck,
broad
HORSES. ^9
broad l"houlders, the back fomewhat too long
and low, and the croup too contraftcd for th-
breath of die cheft : however, they all mo\e we'l,
and are in general excellent for war and (late. They
aie (jf all colours, even the mofb uncommon ; par-
ticularly the pye and the fpotted.
Germany affords fome fine horfes ; but the g'^nera-
lity of them are heavy and thick- winded, though
mofbof them come from Turkifh and Baibary hcr-
fes, of which the Germans have feve;ral ftuds i as
they alfo have of Spanilh and Italian horfes. Tl ey
make no figure in hunting or racing ; whereas the
horfes of Hiimary^ ^Tra>ifylvaii'a^ and fome other ad-
jacent countries, are very light and fleet *.
The Dutch horfes are very good for coaches. The
beft of them come from Friezland. The countries
of Bergue and Juliers alfo breed very good ones.
The Flemijh horfes are greatly inferior to thofe
of Holland -, they have generally large heads, broad
feet, and their legs are fubjecl: to dropfical fwellings.
The two lafl are capital faults in coach horfes.
France produces horfes of all kinds, though not
many fine ones. The befl French faddle-horfes
come from the Limoufm, are fomewhat like the
Barbs, and excellent hunters, but of flow growth.
They mufl not be broke young, nor put to any
fervice before they are eight years old. Auvergne,
Poitou, and the territory of Morvant in Burgundy
alfo produce very good ponies. But Normandy af-
* The HufTars and Hungarians (lit the nollrils of their horfes
in order, as is faid, to mend their wind, and prevent their
neighing in the field ; it being aiferted, that horfcs vvhofe nof-
triis have been flit cannot neigh- Whether this operation has
in reality that elfecl, is more than I can pretend to determine.
M. de Buffon, who likewife never had an opportunity of ex-,
amining the fad, thinks it moft natural to fuppofe that the flit-
ting ot their noftrils can only weaken their neighing — The
Hungarian, Croatian, and Polifli horfes are noted for having
what is called the mark in all their fore teeth, where it continues
till ihey are very eld.
D 4 fords
40 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
fords the fineft horfes, next after thofe of the I.i-
moufin ; and if they are not fo good for hunting,
they are preferable to the reft for war, are better fet,
and fooner trained. Lower Normandy and the Co-
tentin are famous for very fine coach-horfes -, they
are Hghter,and more fprightly than the Dutch horfes,
though thefe laft are by much the moft generally uf-
ed for carriages in France. Franche-Comte and
the Boulonois furnilh likewife very good draught-
horfes : but a general fault in the French horfes is,
the too great width of their fhoulders ; whereas thofe
of the Barbs are too narrov/.
Tlie fineft Enyhjh horfes are very like to the Ara-
bians and Barbs in Ihape : indeed they owe their ori-
gin to them : but the head of the Englifh is much
larger, though well made, and has a finer fore-top ;
and their ears are longer, but properly placed. The
ears alone would indeed fuffice to diftinguifh an Eng-
lifh horfe from a Barb : but the greateft difference
between them is in their fize, Englifh horfes being
by much the largell and beft fet. The common
height of our horfes is about fourteen hands two in-
ches ; but even fifteen hands are not a very extraor-
dinary fize. They are of all colours and all marks -,
generally ftrong, mettlefome, bold, capable of bear-
ing great fatigue, excellent for hunting and racing,
efpecially thofe of Yorkfhire, with whicli moft of
the princes in Europe are plentifully fupplied : but
they want air and agility, and are too ftiff", owing to
their not having fufficient freedom in tlieir fhoulders.
The above enumerated are the kinds of horfes
with which we are beft acquainted : but as fome
may perhaps be curious to k.now what travellers
have faid concerning thofe of more diftant coun-
tries, I fhall here borrow from M. de Buffon
a fummary of their accounts.
*' All the iflands of the Archipelago* produce
very good horfes. Thofe of the ifle of Crete
* See Dapper s Defcriftidn of the IJlands of the Archipelign.
were
HORSES. 41
were highly renowned among the ancients for
agility and fw^-'iefs ^ Init they are at prefent very
little iifed in thut ccuntr}' itfelf, on account of
the roiighnefs of the ground, and th^ .mount.iins
and precipices with which it almofl everv where
abounds : the fine horfes of thefe illancls, and
even thofe of Barbary, are of Arabian extri.c":ion.
The native horfes of the kingdom of Morocco
are much fmaller than thofe of Arabia, but very
light and vigorous t. Dr. Shaw tells us, in his
travels, that the /Egyptian and Tingitanian ftuds
are now fupcrior to all thofe of the neighbouring
countries; whereas about a century ago, as good
horfes were found in every other part of Barba^3^
The excellence of thefe Barbs confifts, he fays,
in never making a falfe ftep, and in remaining
ftill when the rid^r alights or drops the bridle :
they have a long pace, and gallop with rapidity,
but are not fuffered either to trot or to amble,
the inhabitants of the country accounting thofe
goings aukward, and even mean. He adds, that
the T^gyptian liorfes are fuperior to all others
for fize and beauty : bur thefe, and indeed moft
of the Barbary horfes, owe their origin to the
Arabian courfers, which are in con re ft ably the
moft beautiful and ftarely animals in the world.
According to Marmol*; or rather according
to Leo Africanus I, for Marmol has here copied
him almoft word for word, the Arabian horfes
are dcfcended from the wild horfes of the defarts
of Arabia, of which there were ftuds in very an-
tient times, whereby they have been multiplied
to fuch a degree, that all Alia and Africa are
full of them. They are fo very fwift, that foroe
of them will overtake the oftrich. The people
of Arabia Deferta, and thofe of Lybia, breed a
great number of thefe horfes for liunring, but
f See r Afrique de Mttrmoly Paris, 1667, Ton. II. p, 124
* IhiJ. Tom. I. p. 50.
\ Africa Defcripth, Tom. II. />• 750, 751.
never
42 A TREATISE on CATTLE,
never ufe them either for travelling or for war.
They keep them in paftures when tliere is grafs ;
and when there is not, they feed them with dates
and camel's ' milk, which renders them viejorous,
fwift, and thin of flefh. They lay toils for the
wild horfes, which they eat, and fay that the
flefh of the young ones is very palatable : thefe
wild horfes are fmaller than the others, and com-
monly of an afh colour ; though fome are white,
with the main and tail very briftly. Other
travellers have given us fome curious accounts
relative to the Arabian horfes, from which I
fhall here extrad only the principal parts t-
" No Arabian, howfoever poor and indigent, is
without horfes. They generally ride mares -, ex-
perience having taught them that they endure
fatigue, hunger, and thirft, better than horfes :
they are alfo lefs vicious, more tradable, and not
fo much given to neighing as horfes. They ac-
cuflom them fo much to be together, that great
numbers of them are frequently left to them-
felves, fometimes for whole days, without their
kicking one another, or doing themfelves the
leafl hurt. The Turks, on the contrary, are not
fond of mares ; and the Arabians fell them the
horfes which they do not intend to keep for
ftallions. It is a very long time fince the Arabians
becran to preferve the breeds of their horfes with
great care ; to which end they keep exad ac-
counts of their generations, alliances, and whole
genealogy. They diftinguifh their breeds by
difFeren? names, and divide them into three
clafTes : the firft is, that of the noble horfes de-
fcended from a pure and antient breed on both
fides : the fecond is, where the horfe is of an an-
tient breed, but not the mare ; and the third is
X Particularly M. de la Roque, in his Foyage fait par ordre
dt Louis XIV. printed at P^m in 1714, p. 174, etfeq, and alfo
I' Hijhire generate des Voyages. Paris 1746, T»/a. //. p. 626.
that
HORSES. 43
that of common horfes. Thefe lad fell for little -,
but thofe of the firfl clafs, and even of the fe-
cond ; amopg which are fome not at all inferior
to thofe of the firft, bear an exceflively high
price. The marcs of the firll, or noble clafs, are
never covered but by ftallions of the fame rank.
They know^ by long experience, all the breeds
of their own horfes, and likewife thofe of their
neighbours ; even to the name, furname, coat,
marks, &c. of each. When they have not noble
ftallions of their own to cover their mares, they
hire them of their neighbours, and the covering
is performed in the prefence of v/itncfies, who
fign and feal an atteftation of it, before the
Emir's fecretar\% or fome other perfon in office :
in this certificate they mention the name of the
horfe. and mare, and enumerate their whole pe-
digree. Witnelfes are alfo called at the foaling
of the mare, and thtfe fubfcribe another certifi-
cate, containing a defcription of the young colt,
with the day of it's being foaled. The value of
the horfe depends upon thefe certificates, which
are delivered to the purchafer. No mares of this
firft clafs are fold under five hundred crowns
(upwards of fixty guineas) and many fell for a
thoufand, fifteen hundred, and even two thou-
fand crowns.
" As the Arabians have only a tent for their
dwelling, that tent ferves them alfl) for a ftable.
The mare, the foal, the hufband, the wife, and
children, lie all intermixed in a confufed man-
ner ; the little children often on the body or the
neck of the mare or foal, without experiencing
the leaft inconvenience therefrom ; for thefe crea-
tures remain ftill and quiet, as if afraid of hurt-
ing them ; and fo accuftomed are thefe mares to
this familiarity, that they will bear all manner of
play. The Arabians do not beat them, they
treat them gently, talk and difcourfe with them,
take
44 A TREx\TISE on CATTLE.
take a great deal of care of them ; they let tliem
always go their own pace, except in cafes of ne-
celTity ; but then, when once they feel their flanks
tickled with the ftirrup, they inftantly fet off, and
fly with an incredible velocity, leaping like hinds
over hedges and ditches; and if the rider happens to
fall, they arefo well trained, that they ftop inftantly,
even in the mid ft of the moft rapid gallop.
" All the horfes of the Arabians are of a middle
fize, genteel y fhaped, and rather lean than fat.
They drefs them very regularly every morning
and evening, with fo much care, as not to leave
the leaft filth upon their fkin : they wafh their
legs, together with their manes and tails, which they
leave at their ftill length, and feldom comb for fear
of breaking the hairs : they give diem nothing to
eat in the courfe of the day, but only make. them
drink then two or three times, and at fun-fet they
tie to their head a bag with about half a bufhelof
well-cleanfed barley : thus thefe horfes eat only in
the night, and the bag is not taken from them till
the next morning, when it is found empty. In the
month of March, when there is a fufficiency of her-
bage, they are turned out to grafs. At this feafon
alfo the mares are covered -, and it is the conftant
pradtice of the Arabians to throw cold water upon
the croup of the mare immediately after the adion.
When the fpring feafon is over, the horfes are taken
from the pafture ; and during all the reft of the year
they have neither grafs nor hay, and even ftraw but
very rarely ; barley is their only food. The manes
of the foals are cut at the age of a year, or eighteen
months, that they may grow the clofer and longer :
they are backed at the age of two years, or two
years and a half at fartheft ; but before that time,
neither bridle nor faddle is put upon them. Every
day, from morning to evening, all the horfes of the
Arabians ftand bridled and faddled at the door of
the tent.
" The
HORSES. 4^
" The breed of thele horles has extended Itfelf in
Barbary, among the Moors, and has even reached
the negroes who inhabit the banks of the ri-
vers Gambia and Senegal, where the lords of the
country have fome exceedingly beautiful. Inftead
cf barley-or oats, they are fed with maize, pounded
or reduced to meal, and mixed with milk wlien it is
intended to fatten them : but even in this hot climate
they are permitted to drink but feldom '^. On ano-
ther fide, the Arabian horfes have flocked TEgvpt,
Turkey, and perhaps Perfia, where there were for-
merly very confiderable ftuds ; one of which Marco
Paulo fpeaks of, t as containing ten thoutand white
mares ; to which he adds, that there were in the pro-
vince of Balafcia great numbers of large and fwift
horfes, whofe hoofs were fo hard that it was needlefs
to flioe them.
" All the horfes of the Levant, like thofe of Per-
fia and Arabia, have a very hard hoof; yfet they are
conftantly ihoed, but with thin and light fhoes, which
may be nailed on in every part. In Turkey, Perfia,
and Arabia, the manner of tending and feeding
liorfes is the fame, and in each of thofe countries
their dung is made to ferve for litter, after having
been dried in the fun to take off it's fmell -, when it
is pulverized; and I'pread about four or five inches
thick on the floor of the flable or tent. This litter
lafls a long time ; for w hen it becomes again offen-
five, it is dried a lecond time in the fun, which en-
tirely takes away its bad fmell.
'* There are in Turkey Arabian, horfes, Tartar
horfes, and horfes of the native breed of the coun-
try : thefe lafl are hand fome, and very flender + ;
full of vivacity, remarkably fwift, and even grace-
* See Hiftoire gcnerale de Voyages. Tom. III. p. 2C)~.
-|- Dejcripiion geographifjue de /' Inde^, par Mart Paul, Venitien.
Paris y 1566, Tom. I. p. ^i. and Li'v. I, p. 21
X 'See Les Voydget de M- Dumoil. La Haye. 1699, Tom. HI.
fui;
64 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
ful ; but too tender to bear much faiigue : they eat
little, are foon heated, and their flvin is' fo fenfible
that they cannot bear a curry-comb ; for which rea-
fon they are only rubbed with a cloth, and wafhed.
Tiiefe horfes, though handfome, are, as we fee,
greatly iru'crior to the Arabians : they are even infe-
rior to the Perfian horfes, which are, next to thofe
of Arabia*, the beft and moft beautiful of any in the
Eaft. The paftures in the plains of Media, Perfe-
polis, Ardebil, and Derbent, are admirably fine, and
a prodigious number of horfes are reared there, by
order of government, moft of which are very beau-
tiful, and almoft all of them excellent. Pietro della
Valle t prefers the common horfes of Perfia to thofe
of Italy, and even to the moft valuable horfes of the
kingdomi of Naples. They are generally of a mid-
dle fize i, and fome even very fmall II, which are not
for that the lefs good and ftrong : but there are alfo
many of a good fize, and even larger than the Eng-
lilh faddle-horfes§. They have all a flender head, a
fine neck, and a narrow cheft -, the ears well fliaped
and well placed, the legs ficnder, the rurnp well
turned, and a hard hoof : they are docile, fprightly,
agile, fpirited, courageous, and capable of enduring
great fatigue. They run extremeK fwifi, without
ever falling or ftumbling ; they are robuft and very
eafily fed, barley mix d with fine chopped fir. iw be-
ing their only food, v/hichis given them in bags tied
to their heads ; and fix weeks in fpring is all the time
they are out iU grafs. Their tales are iicver cut ;
geldings are not know'n among them -, clothes are
* See Foy/iges dc The'vemt, Paris, 1 664, Tom. II. p. 220.
Char din, To:ii. II. p- 25. j^mji. 171 l. an J Adam Olcarius^ Paris,
1 950, Tom. I. p. 560. tt jeq.
\ Vfjyo.gi-i de Pieiro della Falle, Rouen, 1745, \inio. Tom. V.
f. 560 et jeq.
X ?t^e I'oyages deTa. 204. L liijl. gendesVoy. Tom. VI. p.
492, and 505. L IliJl. de la (onqucte de la Chint, par Palafox,
Paris, 1 67 J, /. 4-16.
the
HORSES. 49
tlie Indies ; thougli they thrive pretty well in Perfia
and Turkey.
'" The Inhabitants ofLittle Tartary have alfo a fmall
breed of horfcs, which they vakie fo greatly that they
never fuffer them to be fold to flrangers. Thefe
horfes have all the good and bad qualities of thofe of
Great Tartary ; which proves how far the fame ufage,
and the fame manner of bringing up thefe animals,
impart to them die fame difpofitions and temper.
There are likewife in Circall'ia and Mingrelia numbers
of horfes which are even handfomer than thofe of
Tartary ; and tolerably fine horfes are alfo found in
the Ukraine, Walachia, Poland, and Sweden -, but
particular obfervations have not yet been made on
their good qualities and defeats.
" Now, if we confult the antients with regard
to the nature and qualities of horfes of different
countries, we fhall find *, that the Grecian horfes,
and efpecially thofe of Theffaly and Epirus, were
in repute, and very good for war ; that thofe of
Achaia were the largefl then known ; that the hand-
fomeft of all v/ere thofe of lEgypt, where they were
very numerous, and where Solomon purchafed great
numbers at very high prices ; that horfes throve badly
in Ethiopia, on account of the too great heat of the
climate ; that Arabia and Africa furnifhed the befl
made horfes, and efpecially the fvvifteft and fittefl
for the faddlc or the race ; that thofe of Italy, and
particularly of Apulia, were' alfo very good ; that in
Sicily, Cappadccia, Syria, Armenia, Media, and
Perfia, there were excellent horfes, eflimaole for
their agility and fwiftnefs ; that thofe of Sardinia
and Corfica were fmall, but fpirited and bold -, that
thofe of Spain rcfembled the Parthian horfes, and
were excellent for war ; that the Tranfylvanian and
Walachian horfes had fmall v/ell-fhaped heads,
manes reaching down to the ground, bufhy tails,
" See AUii-jaml, Hijl. N^t. de Soliped p. 48—63.
E and
50 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
and were very fleet ^ that the Danifh horfes were
well made, and good leapers : that thofe of Scandi-
navia were fmall, but well moulded, and very nim-
ble ; that the Flemifh horfes were flrong ; that the
Gauls furnifhed the Romans with good horfes for
the faddle, and for carrying burthens ; that the Ger-
man horfes were ill-fhaped -, and fo bad as to be of
no ufe ; that the Swifs had great numbers of horfes,
and of very good ones for war ; that the Hungarian
horfes were alfo very good ; and laftly, that the In-
dian horfes were very fmall and very weak.
" It refults from all thefe fads, that the Arabian
horfes have ever been, and that they ft ill are, the
firft in the world, as well for beauty as for goodnefs ;
that it is from them, either immediately, or medi-
ately by the means of Barbs, that the fineft horfes
in Europe, Africa, and Afia, are procured ; that the
climate of Arabia is, perhaps, the true climate for
horfes, and the beft of all climates for them ; fince
inftead of crofling there the native breeds by foreign
breeds, great care is taken to preferve them entirely
pure i that if that climate is not in itfelf the beft
for horfes, the Arabians have rendered it fuch by
their particular attention in all times to ennoble the
breed, by putting together only fuch individuals as
were the beft fhaped, and of the firft rank ; that by
an unremitted continuance of this care for feveral
ages, they may have brought the fpecies to a degree
of perfe<5iion beyond what nature would have done
in the beft climate. We may alfo conclude from the
above, that thofe climates which are rather hot than
cold, and efpecially where the foil is dry, are the
beft fuited to the nature of thefe animals ; that, in
general, fmall horfes are better than large ; that care
is not lefs necelTary to them all than food ; that with
familiarity and careffes one may obtain much more
of them than by force and punifhment ; that in
horfes of hot countries, the bones, the hoofs, and
tl:e mufcles are much liarder than in thofe of our
climates ;
HORSES. 51
climates ; that though heat agrees with thele animals
better than cold, yet excellive heat does not fuit
them •, tliat great cold is likewile hurtful to them ;
in iine, that their conftitution and temper depend
almoft entirely on the climate, the food, the care
taken of them, and the manner of bringing them up."
I now return to the horfes of this country, a (hort
(ketch of the hiflory of which may not be unaccept-
able to fome readers.
How, or when this ifland became provided with
the various forts of anim.als which we now fee in it,
is of little importance to the defign of this work, or
indeed to curfelves. Leaving therefore all the ufeful
kinds, fuch as bullocks, fheep, hogs, horfes, &c.
to encreafe and multiply under the care of the firfl
inhabitants of this country, who, we are told, were
careful to bring fuch with them ; and letting pole-
cats, fnakes, and toads, with the numerous tribe of
other vermin, find their way hither as they can ; we
fhall at once defcend to a lefs obfcur? period.
When Julius Casfar invaded this ifiand, he found
its inhabitants abundantly provided with horfes fo
well difciplined as to ftrike the Romans with admi-
ration, and even terror * •, and it is highly probable
that thefe conquerors themfelves, during their flay
here, brought ever foreign horfes, as well as troops,
to maintain the feveral pofts of cavalry which they
had formed in different pans, efpecially on the coafts.
The Saxons alfo kept great numbers of horfes in
this ifland, and fo likewifexiid the Danes t ; but af-
ter
♦ Ctefar, de Bello Gallico. Lib. IV. c. 24, 29. Lib. V. c. 8, 1 1 , i 5.
f We read in Broniton, that in the reign of king Athelftan,
orEthelftan, a law was made to prevent fending horfes abroad
Cor fale ; which fiiews that our horfes were in requell even at that
time. In the year 1000, when Etbelred reigned, it was enact-
ed , that the compenfation for a horfe that was lolt fhould be
thirty fhillings, for a mare or colt of a year old twenty fhillings,
for a mule or young afs rwelve fhillings, for an ox thirty pence,
for
E 2
52 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
ter the Norman conqueft, both the value and the
breed of our horfes feem to liave declined. Henry
VII, ever vigilant to promote the welfare of his do-
minions, and amongft other things to raife at home
a good breed of horfes, ordered that no ftallions
fhould be fent abroad without licence, but permitted
the free exportation of low-priced mares when more
than two years of age ; and his fon and fucceffor
Henry VIII, made feveral fevere laws againft allow-
ing ftallions in fome places under fourteen, in others
fifteen hands high, and about two years old, to run
in any foreft, moor, or common, where there were
mares : commanding magiftrates to drive thofe pla-
ces about Michaelmas, and im powering and requir-
ing them to put to death all fuch mares as they fhould
find therein not likely to bear foals of a good fize,
and all fuch geldings or foals as they fliould judge
would not prove ferviceable. The northern counties
were excepted from this order ; which fhews that
they had not at that time any remarkable breed of
horfes *. It was enadled that a certain number of
breeding mares, atleaft thirteen hands high, iliould
be kept in every park where there were deer. Thefe
coercive ftatutes were however fo far from anfwer-
ing the purpofe for which they were intended, that
when we were threatened with the famous Spanidi
invafion, in the reign of queen Elizabeth, there could
not upon the fir i deft enquiry be found above three
thoufand horfes fit for fervice in the v/liole of Eng-
for a cow twenty-four pence, for a ilieep one iliil'lng, for a goat
eleven pence, for a fwine eight pence, and ior a man one pound.
All this was in Saxon money, of which forty-eight fliillings
made a pound, and tive pence a fliilling r and iliews us what
then was the relative value of things.
* The cafe is greatly altered fmce, particularly with regard
to Yorkfliire ; and to a repeal of this law fo far as related to Corn-
wall, by Stat. 21 Jac i. c. 28. §. 12. we owe the prcfervation
of that valuable race of fmall horfes which the people of that
country call Gunhillies, moil admirably fuitcd to their roads and
labours.
land.
HORSES. S3
Kind *. By the defeat and difperfion of the Armada,
the horfcs en board of that fleet were caft:, fome
upon the Ihore of Galloway, and other parts of Scot-
land, by which the native breed of that country was
much improved, end from whence it is not at all im-
probable that feme of die Spanifh horfes were car-
ried into the northern counties of England, where
their coming had alfo the fame good eflfedl. The
civil wars Ihewed the ufe of a fuperior race of horfes,
and at length it was perceived, that the true remedy
confifted in following the cuftom of other nations,
and that bringing over foreign ftallions, attending to
the breed, allowing all ranks of men entire liberty
in thisreiped,andencouragingalovefor and a pridein
good horfes, were the only means. The peaceable
times which followed, afforded the means of com-
pleating this plan. A little before the reftoration,
the exportation of our horfes was permitted, but
under very high duties, and plates were inftituted to
encourage races. In confequence of thefe meafures,
our horfes foon became both numerous and valuable j
and in the year 1670, the duty on exportation was
reduced to a mere regifter-fee, of only five (hillings
a head, as it ftiil continues to be. This alteration
was fpeedily attended with all the good efFedls that
could be v/ifhed for : fine fluds were eftablifhed in
mofl: parts of the kingdom, and fupplied plenty of
bred-horfes for the courfe, our cavalry, and the fad-
die ; and the fpirit of emulation, natural to the in-
habitants of this ifland, extended itfelf from perfons
of fupenor rank and fortune, by whom this work
was begun, to the middling clafs of people, foon
procured us other inferior forts of horfes proportion-
iibly improved. The notice of all our neighbours
was fpeedily attradted, the reputation of our horfes
• * It can.not indeed be doubted, that one of the principal mo-
tives which inftigated the Spaniards to that attempt, wasthe knaw-
ledge they had obtained of our weaknefs in refpe^ to cavalry.
E ? was
54 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
was juflly raifed, and the advantages refuking from
this general regard to thefe animals became manifeft.
Whether we have not gone too far in this pleafmg
road, by over-flocking ourfelves with horfes, and
employing them in works which might be better done
by oxen ; and whether the objedl of gain to indivi-
duals, by breeding of horfes for exportation, may
not, all things confidered, be a detriment to the na-
tion, are points which have been of late pretty warm-
ly, but, in my humble opinion, not yet fatisfadori-
ly difciiffed. Every one knows, that private bene-
fits may eafily arife from public lofTes.
A mixture of horfes of different breeds produces,
in our finds, colts which may all be faid to differ in
fize, proportion, temper, inftind, &:c. From
among this great variety it is that horfes are chofen.
for that purpofe to which they feem befl adapted.
Thus very different horfes are iifed for travelling,
hunting, war, the harnefs, the pack-faddle, &c.
Saddle-horfes for travelling fhould be in the prime
of their age, and of a good fize, that they may be
the better able to bear the fatigues to which they are
deflin^d. They fhould be fure-footed, their feet
well made, their hoofs firm, their mouths fenfible,
and their motions eafy ; not too fiery, b;it quiet
without fluggifhnefs. The fearful, and thofe which
are too nice in their food, fliould berejeded.
All the horfes that are trained up for war fliould be
well fhaped, vigorous, alert, and lively : their
mouths cannot be too good, nor their motions too
eafy. Their trot and gallop fhould be Ihort and
briik, and their thighs and backs flrong. The
horfes ufedby officers fhould be good-natured, gen-
tle, dexterous, bold, and adive : the fearful, or
fuch as are too delicate, or too fiery, are not fit for
this fervice. With regard to troop-horfes, it is fuf-
ficient that they be flrong, hardy, and good trotters ;
that they have a good fhare of foot, and a firm
mouth.
In
HORSES 55
In ftate -horfes, the only thing attended to is a fine
exterior ; and accordingly the qualities which chiefly
recommend them, are the beauty of their fliapc,
coat, mane, and tail : though it is equally neceilary
that the\ flivuld be proud and fpirited, their moifth
good and froihing, and that they be continually
champing the bit. Such as have a proud carriage,
\vcL\e a fine effedl in this kind of pomp, where a,p-
pearances are fufficient.
Stone-horfes are reckoned fitted for riding
pofl, becaufe they are befl able to endure fatigue.
They fhculd be fhort punch horfes, ftrong, fiirfe-
footed, and fo eafy in the gallop that their reine be
hardly felt. The grea;,eft danger in diem is their
growing reftiff or wanton ; but the foftnefs of their
mouth, and the elegance of their (hape, are of very
little confequence.
Hunters ihould be fleet, ae tempt-
ed to drink plentifully, by giving him fuch
mafhes as are pleafing to him ; and therefore what-
ever is difagreeable fhould be adminiftered with a
horn, lefl the fear of that difagreeablenefs fhould
deter him from drinking.
When the firft violence of the difeafe is abated, or
when the ftrength of the fick creature finks, medi-
cines of a more Itimulating nature may be given. If
the Spiritus Mindereri fhould be thought too expen-
five for horfes, the following mixture, recommend-
ed by Mr. Barlet (b)^ may anfwer the fame pur-
pofe. " Take of Ruflia pearl-afhes one ounce, of
** diftilled or common vinegar as much as fhall per-
" fedly faturate the fait, or fo much, that when
** more vinegar is poured upon the mixture no ef-
" fervefcence will arife, a quart of water, and four
{b) Page 33.
H 2 '* ouncea
loo A TREATISE on CATTLE.
" ounces of honey. Mix thefe well together, and
" give a pint of this drink three or four times a dav."
Sir John Pringle, Bart, acquaints us (c)^ that in
Dr. Clerk's opinion, of all the neutral falts, the crude
fal ammoniac comes the neareft to the Spirits Min-
deren'i and therefore it may be ufed here with great
propriety, to the quantity of an ounce a day.
Inftead of opening the body with purges, in fe-
vers, it is more advifeable to repeat the glyfters, Co
as to obtain that end ; being lefs flimulating than the
firft. Whey, water gruel, pot-Hquor, with fait and
oil, may be fufficlent.
Vegetius, in his ufual way, recommends (d),
efpecially in the winter, to rub the difeafedhorfe with
oil and vinegar long againft the hair, and then to
cover him, and carry him to a warm place. He alfo
advifes other particular modes of treatment peculiar
to each feafon : but all his prefcriptions are fo load-
ed with a multitude of ingredients, that it would be
very difficult to afcertain the virtues of any one of
them in particular.
In fummer, the befl food for a feverifh horie is
green fucculent plants •, and in winter, a little ha\
moiflened with water; but no corn. He will eat
but little at fir ft ; but if the difeafe does not laft a-
bove three days, he will foon come to his appetite.
If it exceeds that time, give him a mafticatory made
of afla-foetida and favine, of each half an ounce, an
ounce of liqourice rafped, and an equal quantity of
fugar. This will caufe a difcharge of any matter
that may load the glands, about the mouth and gul-
let, and fo quicken in him a defire to eat. His drink
fhouldbe given him rather often than much at a time,
and he fhould be kept moderately warm ; the ex-
tremes on both fides being equally hurtful, and per-
haps moft fo on the fide of heat.
(f) Objei-'vations on the Dijenfes of the Army^ part III. i. i
Id) Lib. I. c. XXX:
The
HORSES. 101
The horfe's returning appetite, and the cooler tem-
per of his body, fhew a recovery of health ; and then
feme mild purgatives fhould be given, fuch as the
purging falls before direcfted, or cream of tartar
with a dram or two of jalap in powder to quicken
it. Frequent rubbing contributes much to reftore
health.
Mr. Barlet (e) gives the following figns of a fever
which he has obferved to feize horfes. This fever is
flow, with languiHiing and great deprefi'ion ; the
liorfe is fometimes hot in the mouth, though he is
outwardly cold ; at other times hot all over, but not
to any extreme ; his eyes look moift and languid ;
he has a continual moifture in the mouth, which is
the reafon why he feldom cares to drink, and when
he does, it is but little at a time ; he feeds but little,
and leaves off as foon as he has eaten a mouthful or
two : he moves his jaws in a feeble loofe manner,
with an unpleafant grating of his teeth ; his body is
commonly open ; his dung foft and moift, but fel-
dom greafy : his ftaling is often irregular, fometimes
little, at other times profufe •, feldom high-coloured,
but rather pale, with little or no fediment. A horfe
in this fort of fever always runs at the nofe, but not
the kindly white difcharge, as in the breaking of a
cold ; but of a reddifh or greenilli dufky colour, and
of a confiflence like glue, and fticks like turpentine
lo the hair on the infide of the noftrils.
When, in this flate, a horfe's appetite declines
daily till he refufes his meat, it is a bad fign. When
the fever does not diminifli, or keep at a ftand, but
increafes, the cafe is then dangerous : but \vhen it
fenfibly abates, and the mouth grows drier, when
the grating of his teeth ceafes, when his appetite
mends, and when he takes to lying down, whicli
perhaps he has not done for a fortnight ; thefe are
prcmifmg figns. If the running at the nofe turns to
H q a elect
I02 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
a gleet of clear thin water, if the horfe'shide keeps
open, and if he mends in his appetite ; thefe are figns
of recovery.
The various and irregular fymptoms which attend
this flow fever require great caution and.fkill todi-
re6l the cure. In general, a moderate quantity of
blood may be taken, proportioned to the horfe's
ftrength and other fymptoms. In order to deter-
mine this quantity, the pulfe in the neck, where it
is very apparent, fhould be examined, and it's fre-
quency and ftrength fliould determine the quantity ;
for it's hardnefs, more than it's frequency, is what
indicates the necefiity of bleeding. The bran and
water with nitre, and an ounce of fnake-root in it,
may then be given, as before dire6ted. As the
ftools in this cafe are frequent and loofe, there ap-
pears not any need of a glyfter •, but a fomewhat
that will purge fmartly feems to be wanted. An
ounce of jalap, with a dram of calomel, made into
a ball, will give that degree of ftimulus which ihall
expel either flime, or worms, that may become an
additional caufe of this fever. If, after this, the fe-
ver ftill wears the fame afpedt, a dram of camphire
diifolved in fpirit of wine, and a pint of ftrong vi-
negar, may be added to the former mixture. Sweet
hay fhould .be given frequently, and by little at a
time, becaufe the horfe's breath may taint it if it
ftands long before him.
If the loofenefs is too great, proper remedies
fhould be given to reftrain it, fuch as water in which
a good deal of chalk is mixed, or difafcordium to
the quantity of half an ounce ; and every thing that
niay excite a purging fhould be avoided. If the
horfe ftales in too great quantity, the nitre muft be
difcon tinned ; but if he does not make water enough,
it will be right to give him a decodion of juniper-
berries, with fome Venice turpentine, firft diflbived
in the yolk of an egg.
When
14 O R S^'S'S: it)j
When the horfe begins to piit on a thore lively
look, when his hair appears fmooth and glofly, when
his nofe grows clean and dry, when his urine fhews
fjgns of concodicn, when his appetite mends, and.
when he lays down well, and both ftales and dungs
regularly, health is returning. Particular care fhould
then be taken, that his diet at firfl be light, and in
fmall quantities, and that it be encreafed only by de-
grees as he gets ftrength ; for by over-feeding on
recovery from a long illnefs, there is great danger of
a relapfe, or furfeit, which are always difficult of
cure.
If the fever fhould prove of the intermitting kind,
immediately after the fit is over, give an ounce of
Jefuits bark, and repeat it every fix hours, if the
fever is difcontinuing, till the horfe has taken fix
ounces. Eruptions, or fwellings of any kind, are
to be encouraged in the decline of a fever, becaufe
thev denote a termination of the difeafe.
Here I would beg to eftablifh as a general rule iii
all difeafes, and on this occafion apply it particularly
to the horfe, that the atmofphere be continually
changed by the admiffion of frelh air, without it's
blowing upon the difeafed animal : and this may
eafily be done by having an opening in the cieling of
the flable, to carry off the foul air.
The putrid fever ismoft apttofeize young horfeSj
efpecially in hot weather, and in hot countries. It is
diflinguifhed by the tongue and palate, which be-
come black, dry, and hard ; the whole body is hot,
the head hangs dowm, the eyes are red, the breath
is hot, and the heart beats much.
The cure confifts chiefly in bleeding, and a very
cool diluting diet ; to which end we find an ounce of
crude lal-ammoniac difTolved in the horfe's drink,
and Simulating glyfters recommend'ed. For the
farther treatment of this difeafe, and alfo what is ne-
cefTary to be done in contagious or peftilential difor-
ders, the reader is referred to the latter end of this
volume,
104 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
volume, where thofe matters will be profeffedly
treated of. In the mean time I fhall add here,
as pertinent to my prefcnt fubjed, the fubftance of
Mr. Ofmer's account of a contagious difeafe in horf-
es v/hich fell under his own eye.
*' In the year 1750, I think it was, fays Mr. Of-
mer (/), that ihe diflemper among the horfes was
more univerfal than at any other time. Various were
the fymptoms, and different the degrees of illnefs
among different horfes. Some had a diicharge of
matter from their eyes, nofe, and mouth ; others
had none : but in all there were great tokens of in-
flammation, attended with a fever and a violent
cough.
*■' Moll of the horfes which had a difcharge from
the nofe, &:c. lived ; and where fuch difcharges did
not happen, nor a critical abfcefs fall on fome part,
moft of them died,
" I made feveral incifions in the (kin on various
parts of the body of dead horfes which had not any
difcharge from the nofe, and found in all of them a
quantity of extravafated ferum lodged between the
fkin and the membranes. This indicated the pro-
priety of feveral rowels, which fome were of opini-
on would foon mortify : but in about thirty hours
their good effects appeared ; for the horfe dius treat-
ed began to look chearful, and to eat his meat, and
in another day became as apparently well as ever he
was in his life. Rowels had the fame good effedt on
horfes which had a difcharge at the nofe : for they
got over it much fooner than thofe which had no fuch
afli fiance.
*' If a horfe has a violent fever, with a dry cough,
and there be no concomitant difcharge at the nofe,
he fhould be bled largely. If a difcharge at the
nofe appears, bleeding will be found to do harm ;
being contrary to the attempt of nature in fuch dif-
Xi) ^reatifein the Difeafes of Horfes, />. i'o8, elfeq., -
- -=-■ ■; chnrge!
HORSES. 105
charge. In both thefe circumftances, he fhould take
cooling falts every fix hours, the excrements being
raked from him if he is coftive ; cooling gKilers
Hiould be given, and three or four rowels fhould be
put into various parts w here the fkin is loole.
" The danger of a mortification has been objetl:-
ed to thefe rowels : but if any fuch f^mptom as a
gangrane fhould appear, on this or any other occa-
sion, warm fomentations, with fome fpirit of wine
added at the time of ufmg them, and a poultice
made of oatmeal, cummin feeds, and the grounds
of ftrong beer, and kept applied to the part, are the
proper remedies.
" A ftud of mares and colts of various ages were
attacked with this diftemper in various foims. Some
had a difcharge from the eyes, nofe, and mouth ;
fome had critical fwellings, which fell on the udder ;
fome were on the fhoulder, others on the fide of the
jaw, under the law, and on the other parts.
" As they fell ill, they were taken to a houfe, and
bled or roweled according to their different ages and
lymptoms, and faltpetre was given them : by thefe
means they all became well, except the fucking
foals.
'' When critical fwellings appeared, I made large
incifions on the part, and let out large quantities of
matter. So much was the blood vitiated, that after
the firft wound was well, many of them had other
critical fwellings fall on other parts, again and again -,
thefe were all opened, when ripe, and by this means
they all at lengdi became well. Some had f^veral
fetons put in the fkin, fome in the depending part
of the fwelling, thinking by thefe evacuations to di-
vert thefebrile matter, and effed a cure : but after a
trial of many days, I found this method of no ufe,
the Iwelling all this time neither advancing nor rece-
ding. Upon which the fetons were taken out, the
faltpetre left off, and in a few days the fwelling came
io6 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
to good matter, by the difcharge of which the atii-
mal got well in due courfe of time.
" But for the fucking foals, no remedy availed ; the
difeafe baffling all the attempts of art and nature.
If you bled fhem, a fwelling perhaps came on the
part, and would remain indurated for feveral months,
which was neither to be diffipated, nor brought to
matter. The fame kind of indurations would alfo
fall on other parts. If the matter was formed and
let out, frelh fwellings fucceeded each other ; or fome
other fymptoms of the difeafe remained for feveral
months, even till they were weaned, the caufe of
this I think is evident. The mare that gives fuck is
never, at' lead that I could perceive, affected with
this difeafe; which in all probability proceeds from
the conftant fecretion of her milk, by means of
which her veflfels are ftill kept emptied, and herfelf
free from any fymptoms of a fever, and yet her
blood may be much vitiated and corrupted.
I have feen feveral foals at the mare's foot,
whofe blood has been -fo poor, as to occafion their
legs to fwell, even when they have been running
about in the field, and muft inevitably have died,
if they had continued to fuck much longer : yet,
when taken from the mare and weaned, have been
foon recovered, by the very means that before were
found ineftedual. From which inftances I am ready
to conclude, that this long-continued illnefs of the
foal is entirely owing to the depravity of the mare's
milk.
" In order to remedy both mare and foal, the
mare fhould be bled two or three times, and take
fome cooling falts every day ; and the fame fhould
be given to the foal once a day or oftener, if there
be occafion, with the ufe of fetons. The milk of
the mare fhould be drawn from her, unlefs it is in-
tended to wean the foal : otherwife, fuchfoal fhould
be fupported with cow's milk mixed with flour, till
his
HORSES. 107
his healtli is reinftated, by which time the habit of
body in the mare will alfo be amended.
'' When a critical {"welling appears on any part, all
means ufed to divert it are wrong, and ineffedual :
but a poultice of bread and milk lliould be applied
to the part, to forward the matter, which, when
ripe, and not before, is to be let out by a proper in-
cifion ; and to prevent any future fwellings on the
fame, or other parts, fome difcharge (hould be con-
tinued for a time by an artificial drain, with the daily
ufe of fome cooling falts to correct the vitiated
blood.
" I have of late followed a method fome what dif-
ferent from rowels or fetons, though analogous there-
to, and think it much better than either of them,
becaufe it fooner brings on a difcharge, and that in
greater abundance, is attended with lefs inflamma-
tion, and may be continued as long as one pleafes.
It is, to make a number of incifions into the ikin on
any part where it is loofe, to dilate or feparate the
fame with the finger all round as far as it will reach,
and moderately to fill fuch part every day with lint
or (ow dipt in a proper digeftive for wounds •, firft
taking out the former drefling.
" By thefe methods, all tlie fymptoms attendi-ng
this difeafe, in every age, will be removed, and it's
deflrudlive confequences prevented.
The ufe of cooling falts, with proper bleeding
and glyflers, will generally be fufficient to remove
moil common fevers : yet if the cale appear urgent
and dangerous, then, by way of fecurity, incifions
of the ikin, as drains, fhould be ufed alfo. For
v/ant of fuch fecretions and evacuations, the horfe,
though he may chance to recover from his fever, is
liable to, and often is ruined by confequential disor-
ders, fuch as the farcy, a broken wind, tubercles of
the lungs, confumption, glanders, and oedematous
local fwellings, that are never removed.
" In
io8 A TREATTSE on CATTLE.
In this difeafe, which I own is new to me, the
horfes are feized v/ith a variety of fymptoms that re-
quire a different treatment. On this account, parti-
cular regard is to be had to the fymptoms attending
it, as the proper indications liow to adt ; and with
fiich attention, the methods here directed will fel-
dom fail to anfwer the defned end.
**■ This difeafe begins, in general, with great de-
bility of the limbs •, and many horfes are fo much
weakened, as to reel and ftagger about when led along,
and that almoft as foon as they are taken ill. It is at-
tended too, in general, with lofs of appetite, a dry
cough, their eyes become fuddenly dim, glazed and
lifelefs, and they have no fort of inclination to drink.
" But there being, I think, five different claffes
or degrees of this difeafe, I fhall endeavour to diflin-
guifh them as clearly and concifely as I can, for the
information of the reader.
" Fird. Befides the fymptoms already mentioned,
Ibme horfes are taken with a coldnefs of the exter-
nal parts : thefe are chiefly affeded with a weaknefs be-
hind ; they have no fever, nor tokens of inflamma-
tion, and there feems to be a tendency towards a ge-
neral flagnation of the fluids.
" Secondly. Among other fymptoms, are great to-
kens of inflammation, the fever is high, and the ex-
ternal parts are hot and burning. Thefe horfes are
moft affected in their head and fight.
" 'Thirdly. In others, the difeafe falls on the throat,
with manifeft tokens of great forenefs. Thefe fel-
dom have any feverifli heat, are not fo muchaffed-
ed in their limbs, or fight, as fome are, and their
appetite, both for eating and drinking, feems better
than in thofe of the firfl and fecond clafs. They
are, in general, miferably reduced before this fore-
nefs goes off; though their falling away ought not
to be imputed folely to their fafling, becaufe all hor-
fes that have this difeafe to any confiderable degree,
are reduced in a very few days to the leannefs of a
dog-horfe. • " Fourth-
HORSES. 109
*■* Fourthly. Others are feized at firfl with a cough
only, and Ihew Httle or no fymptoms of illnefs, nor
of any unufual heat or cold. Thefe, in genera],
foon have a difch.arge of a feroiis fluid, from the nof-
trils, as in the inflammatory fever. They are lead
afFeded, and recover fooneft of any, and frequently
too without any alTiftance at all.
" Fifthly. In others again, the phlegmon, or boil,
appears foon after the cough, in fome part of the
head and body : and in fome of thefe the vital heat
is fufficient fpeedily to bring on a critical impoflihu-
mation, without any art or alliftance. In others,
the vital heat is fo little, that their lives are manifell-
ly endangered before an impofthumation can be ob-
tained, even \^ith the allifliance of art.
" But when we talk about vital heat, it may per-
haps be more proper to fay, that the different pro-
grefsof the critical boil in diflferent horfes, is owing
to the difference of their fluids, and the more briflv
or languid circulation thereof, as they happen to be
more or lefs vifcid. If this be not the tme caufe,
from whence, I pray you, arife the two extreme fen-
fations of cold and heat in different horfes, affeleto bear for a confiderable
time ;
HORSES. Ill
time ; and as in the inflammatory fever, keeping the
horfe cool is very beneficial, fo in this difeafe, keep-
ing him moderately warm, with good rubbing, if he
is inclined to be Qoki, and (lift' in his motions, is very
necelTary.
"' For thofe of the fecond clafs, bleeding in a mo-
derate quantity is very beneficial, efpecially at the
beginning of the difeafe. Here too evacuations by
glyfters will be of ufe, and the medicines before di-
recled l"hould be given m like manner. If the heat
and fever continue twelve hours, and the vellels on
the membranes about the eye appear inflamed and
difl:ended, a fecond bleeding in a moderate' quantity
may be neceflary, and will generally be fufficient :
but in tl>is, or future bleedings, the direction for fo
doing is to be taken folely from the tokens of inflam-
mation ; remembering, that in this difeafe the horfe
can bear the lofs onlv of a fmall quantity at one
time ; and having likewife fome regard to his fize
and llrength.
*' The blood in horfes labouring under thefe fympf-
toms is very fizy, of a buff colour, and has but
little ferum, when it has ftood for a time. In this
cafe, therefore, rowels will be improper, becaufe
they promote a difcharge of the lymph and finer flu-
ids, of which there appears to be already a deficien-
cy, or rather fome degree of ftagnation in the cifcu-
lation thereof.
" For fuch as are affected with a forenefs of the
throat, bleeding, glyfters, and rowels are all im-
proper, unlefs there be manifeft tokens of fever and
inflammation : in either cafe, the medicine before
directed is proper. Thefe horfes will eat bread and
water-gruel together, if made thin.
" For thofe which have a difcharge at thenoflrils,
bleeding is.highly prejudicial, becaufe this is an effort
of nature, and a kind of crifis to get rid of the dif-
eafe, Glyfters too are feldom wanted here, becaufe
the horfe in thele ctrcumftances generally has appe-
tite
112' A TREATISE on CATTLE.
tite enough tu eat a quantity of fcalded bran, fuffici-
ent to ke.?p his body open : but rowels, with the
niedicine before directed, help here to aflift nature in
unloading the over-charged veifels, and getting rid
of the extravafated fluids ; for though many horfes
do well in this fituation by the help of nature alone,
without any alliftance, yet I have feen many inftan-
ces, both in this fever, as well as in the inflammato-
ry, where, for want of thefe artificial helps, the ex-
travafated fluids difcharged at the noftrils have been
of fo lliarp a nature, as to corrode the foft membrane
which lines the internal cavity of the nofe, and there
produce ulcers, which, lying out of the reach of to-
pical applications, often turn to the real glanders.
*■' For the fifth clafs, a poultice of bread and milk
with lard fhould be applied twice a day to the boil ^
and it might reafonably be deemed very proper,
where the pulfe is low, the circulation languid, and
the external parts cold, to give the horfe fome warm
alexipharmic medicines, to enable nature to bring on
the work of fuppuration -, but I have found in feve-
ral infl:ances, that fuch medicines are on this occafion
of no account at all ; for where I have perceived the
blood to ftand ftill for many days, without advanc-
ing in the leafl towards maturation, and the horfe
has been in manifeft danger, I have left off the ufe
of warm medicines, and have given the medicine be-
fore direded, with camphire, thinking by this means
to thin the flaids, and fo to carr}^ off the difeafe by
the other common fecretory duds ; and this has fuc-
ceeded : but what is remarkable, and, I believe,
contrary to fpeculative reafoning, the phlegmon or
boil, which before flood ftill, and would not advance
at all, has foon after, when the urinary fecretions
have been enlarged, come to fuppuration ; and though
this may appear fomewhat flrange to the learned,
yet it ought to be remembered, that bleeding has
ibmetimes brought the phlegmon in men to fuppura-
tion which bci ore. made no advances thereunto.
*'By
HORSES 115
". By thefe different methods I have faved the
lives of many horfes, having loll a few only out of
a great number ; though I am ready to acknow-
ledge, that, when this difeafe firft made its appear-
ance, I endangered the lives of many."
Vegetius (^) defcribes a contagious fever fimilar
to the above, only he divides it into two claffes,
namely, that with the running at the nofe, and that
v/ith the tumours in the fkin. Speaking of the for-
mer, he fays, " there flows from the horfe's nofe,
inflead offnot, a ftinking and thick humour, of. a
pale colour : the horfe has a great heavinefs in his
head, and hangs it down : tears fall from his eyes,
and there is a wheezing noife in his breafl : he be-
comes thin and meagre, with his hair (landing on
end, and of a fad afpe6t. The antients called this
difeafe the Attican flux. When a bloody or a faf-
fron-coloured humour begins to flow from his nof-
trils, he is incurable." And of the fecond he fays,
" there arifes in the body of the horfe ulcers, out of
which flows a liquid greenifli humour, without any
difcharge from his nofe."
He (h) makes the cure confifl: chiefly in mild oi-
ly injedions into the nofe, anointing the head with
warm oil, keeping the head warm, and giving Di-
apente made in this manner. , Take myrrh, gentian,
long birthwort, bay-berries, and fliavings of ivory,
of each an equal weight, made into a fine powder.
Of this mixture, give the firfl day a fpoonful heaped
in a pint of old wine ; the fecond day a fpoonful and
a half, and the third day two fpoonfuls. In another
place (/) he tells us, that, when the pefliferous hu-
mour paffes between the fkin and the bowels, it is to
be cured, by maki;ig an incifion in the fkin,
or applying a cautery, in the ufual place, be-
tween the fhoulder and the belly, by which a cor-
(g) Lib. I. c Hi. et 1'.
{h) Lib. I. c. X. (/) IbiJ. c. xii.
I rupted
114 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
rupted yellow humour will be difcharged. If it
flows in fmill quantity, he advifes inferting into the
wound the root of tithymal or fpurge, which will
bring out the remainder of the vertom. A cautery
may be applied to the breaft of the horfe, and when
the efchar is cut, the root is to ht inferred, and will
remain there till the flough falls off, whereby the hu-
mour is drawn out of the whole body ; the horfe
taking the diapente in the mean time.
SECT. IV.
Of Fevers attended with Inflammations in par-
ticular parts.
SO long as the figns of an inflammatory flate of
the blood appear over tlie whole body uniform-
ly, the Fever is called fimply an inflammatory Fe-
ver i but when the difeafe falls on fome other part,
the Fever then takes a denomination from the part
affected. I fliall begin with the head, and from
thence proceed downwards.
Vegetius (a) obferves, that when, by reafon of
exceflive heat or cold, the veflels of the brain are
difl:ended, wholefome deep is excluded ; from whence
a head-ach, fadnefs, and weaknefs, neceflarily fol-
low. Thefe are the figns of the lightefl indifpofiti-
on of this kind : but when the veflels are greatly
over-charged, and on one fide only, the animal is
affe£ted with the fl:aggers, his fight is weakened,
tears frequently run down from his eyes, his head is
heavy, and he leans it againft: the manger ; his ears
are motionlefs. As his diforder increafes (b)^ he is
(a) Lib. II. e. i. (jb) Id. ibid, c^i'tii.
feized
Horses. 115
feized witH a phrenzy, leaps fuddenly, as if he
wanted to make his elcape, dafhes himfelf againft
the wall, and cannot be kept in by any method
whatever. When the pulfe arid quick-breathing in-
dicate thefe fymptoms to be attended with a propor-
tionate degree of fever, we may judge that the brain
is inflamed.
Plentiful bleeding, to the quantity of four or five
quarts, is here the only immediate relief, and fhould
be repeated in fuch proportion as the ftrength of the
horfe can bear. The body lliould be opened by
a glyfter, and, as before direftcd, the animal fliould
be put under the mofi cooling regimen. Vegetius
recommends the addition of rriuftard-bliflers. I do
not know that the experiment has been made ; but I
can fee no reafon why the pradlice on the human bo-
dy, of fhavirig the hair on the hind part of the head,
and applying a mixture of the flour of mufl:ard
and Spanifh flies made into an adhefive paflie, (hould
not be followed here. It feems at leaft not to be
attended with any danger. He direds alfo (c), that
the head be well rubbed with oil, and that a cata-
plafm compofed of bay-berries, rice, nitre, vinegar,
and oil of rofes, be applied warrn, in the winter,
wrapping up the head in a fkin witri the wool on it.
He (d) difliinguiflies this difeafe from real mad-
nefs, in which the horfe will neigh as if he were in
perfe(fl health, fall upon either horfe or man and bite
them, bite or gnaw the manger, and even his own
flanks. In this laft: cafe, he advifes to give him
green food, and chiefly as much green parfley as he
will eat, fix fpoonfuls of the juice of hemlock in
half a pint of water, with other due evacuations (e).
If the hydrophobia is come on (/), with a trembling,
grinding and gnafliing of the teeth, he muft be put
in a dark place, and water (hould be fet by him in
(f) Ub. I. c. x'vi. (j) Lih. II. c. xt. (5) Lik Hi. c. xlHL
[f) Ihid. c. x.xxi.
I 2 a bucket.
ii6 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
a bucket, in fuch manner that he may not hear the
found of it. He mufl be well fecured, that he may
not hurt the perfon who attends him. In all difeafes
of the head, which continue obftinate, he advifes
the ufe of the actual cautery, in fuch places as it
fhall make the leaft blemifh in. If the hydrophobia
does come on, it is not worth while to rifk his biting
any attendant. A ball fhould then be the cure.
Vegetius (^^) obferves, that though the horfe may
be cured of this diforder, yet his brain is fometimes
fo much affe6ted or injured, that he remains heavy,
ftupid, and unfit for bufinefs. It is with difficulty
he can turnhimfelf to the fide on which the inflam-
mation was : he will lean on that fide againft a wall,
and, not feeling the whip, go flowly, and hanging
down his head ; he lofes all gracefulnefs of gait.
Columella (h) fpeaks of a fpecies of madnefs
which fometimes feizes mares, though feldom.
The figns of this are, that they run up and down
their pafture, as if they were put to the fpur, after
looking round them as if they were feeking for fome-
thing. He adds, that this phrenzy is cured by lead-
ing them to a water where they may behold them-
felves at full length, and from thence prefumes that
it takes its rife from their love of themfelves, and
their having before feen only their head in the water.
The authors of the Maifon Rujliqiie mention (i) a
diforder which the eyes of horfes are fubjedl to on
the decreafe of the moon, and is therefore called
lunatic. The method of cure which they prefcribe is
very proper for any diforder of that kind, come
when it will ; namely, putting a feton in the nape
of the neck. They propofe, that the cord be com-
pofed of half hair and half hemp : this cord is
anointed with any ointment, and drawn through the
incifion, as is ufually done in men.
{g) Lib. II. c. i: (J)) Lib. VI. c. x.\x. 257.
L 3 S E c ir
ISO A TREATISE on CATTLE.
SECT. X.
Of the AJlhma and Broken-lVincl.
AN Aflhma is conflantly attended with a cough,
and may eafily be diflinguiflied from a con-
(limption by the quality of the matter that is brought
up, which, in an afthma, is not of the purulent and
foetid nature that is in a confumption, when the flefh
and ftrength decay. An afthmatic horfe has a diffi-
culty of breathing, which can be eafily diftinguifhed
from that fhortnefs of breath which arifes from in-
flammation, by the abfence of fever, heat, &c.
The cough is fometimes dry and hufky, fometimes
moifl, throwing out by the nofe and mouth quanti-
ties of tough white phlegm, efpecially after any adion
that has loofened the phlegm adhering to the fauces
or wind-pipe, fuch as drinking, eating, or exercife,
which, creating a difcharge in the difeafed glands,
loofens the impaded or adhering matter. This dif-
charge gives a temporary relief ; and though a horfe
fliould be at the beginning of any exerci'fe fo fhort-
breathed as fcarcely to be able to ftir, yet the exer-
cife continuing to keep the wind-pipe clear of this
tough matter, he may afterwards perform beyond
expedation. As in man, fo in horfes, we often fee
that a true afthmatic cough does not gready impair
the flefh, nor the ftrength, if the exercife is gentle.
This difeafe is very hard to cure, and fcarce ever
curable where it has continued for fome time. If the
horfe is full of flefh, he iTiould be bled, but only iri a
moderate degree, becaufe bleeding here is but a pal-
liative when the diforder attacks with more than com-
mon force. During the violence of a fit of an afth-
ma, th'" horfe fhould be treated with a cooling regi-
men, giving him plenty of mealy drinks with nitre,
and keeping the body open, firft with glyfters, and
then by internal medicines.
As
HORSES. 151
As a radical cure can fcarcely be expeded, all
that can be done is to render the diforder as eafy as
polTible. With this view, the ufe of g\im ammoniac
and alTa-foetida, of fqviills, garlic, elecampane,
flower of fulphur, and mercury, has long been prac-
tifed. The quick-filver itfelf is here found more
efficacious than any preparation of it. Balls of the
following compofirion may be given : viz. Quick-
filver half an ounce, frefh fquils two drams, fimple
balfam of fulphur twenty drops ; rub them together
till the quick-filver entirely difappears ; then add
gum-ammoniac and afla-fcetida, of each half an
ounce, and honey enough to make them into a mafs ;
to be given daily in fuch quantity as fhall keep the
belly open. A folution of gum ammoniac may be
given in a decodtion of garlic, or pine tops. Thefe
laft may alfo be given with the corn. The antimo-
nial aethiops is likewife here a good medicine -, and a
conftant drain rnade by rowels may be of fmgular
fervice. What will alfo tend greatly to keep this dif-
order under, is, early foiling in fummer, with lu-
cerne, or other fucculent plants, while their juices
are yet in a watery ftate, and more purgative than
when conco(fted by the fummer's heat, which like-
wife renders them more nourifhing ; and in the au-
tumn, the falt-marfhes afford no lefs relief, by their
cooling and opening virtues.
M. Bourgelat fays (a)^ that fulphur and lead, or
fulphur and fteel, operate with fuch certainty in an
afthma, as not to leave room to wifh for any thing
better : the writers of the Maifon Rnjlique (b) had
before recommended the following preparation :
Take packets of Spanifh ileel, make them red hot
in a new crucible put into a fmith's forge ; then rub
them with rolls of fulphur, which will make the fleel
melt like butter ; after this, put them again into the
{a) Matter e Medical raifonnee, p. 134. [b] 7omeI.fi. z^z.
L 4 forge,
152 A TREATISE on CATTLE,
forge, that the fteel and brimftone may be thorough-
ly meked in the crucible : after this, pound the mafs
in a mortar, and fift it ; there will remain a powder
of .fteel, which is to be kept in a pot for ufe. Mix
three pinches of this powder with the broken-winded
horfe's corn, wetting the oats (o that the powder may
ftick to them, and continue this for a month.
M. Bourgelat's prefcription (c) for a broken-
winded horfe runs thus : Take equal parts of filings
of lead, and flour of brimftone, put them into a
crucible layer upon layer, beginning with the brim-
ftone, till the crucible is full ; then place die crucible
upon burning coals till it becomes red hot, and, to
quicken the operation, fet fire to the matter. Take
it off the coals as foon as it ceafes to fmoke. Pound
the black matter which remains in the crucible : give
two drams of it every morning to the animal, faft-
ing ; and continue fo to do for fome time.
"a horfe's being broken-winded, feems rather a
fault in the make and conftitution, than a diforder
brought on. Thus, broken-winded horfes are gene-
rally narrow chefted, fo that the lungs have fcarcely
room to play. The lungs and pericardium are fome-
times obferved in fuch horfes, to be larger in propor-
tion to the cavity, than they are in a found horfe.
This enlargement of the vifcera is commonly attri-
buted to their having been over-fed when young ; but
I am perfuaded, that if thele parts had been of a
due conformation at firft, this difproportion might
not have taken place. Be that, however, as it may ;
this opinion leads to a rational method of cure, or at
leaft to the only thing that can be done towards a
cure • which is, an abftemious cool diet, avoiding
rich hay, and all other very nouriftiing plants. Keep-
ing the horfe on green food in the field is of great
fervice ; and the mixing of chopped ftraw with his
hay, as is ufually praftifed in this cafe, is perfedly
rio"ht. This difeafe feldom affeds horfes to any de-
(c) Ubi Jupra i Formula MeScinales, p. 57.
gree
HORSES 15^
gree before they have come to their full growth, when
the cartilages at the ends of the ribs becoming 11 if-
fer, do not fo eafily give way to any ftrcng or fud-
den expanfion of the lungs.
Some horfes are at times troubled with a drv
cough, which impairs their health, and fcarce admits
of any medicines, except cooling evacutions n(^w
and then, and a fpare cooling diet ; keeping them
well rubbed down, in order that the perfpiration may
be free ; becaufe an interruption of this is in all crea-
tures apt chiefly to afted: the kings. For this pur-
pofe, antimony, or the antimonial aethiops, brim-
ftone, elecampane roots, and tops of broom, are
proper.
The young of quadrupeds, as well as thofe of the
human fpecies, are troubled \\ ith a cougli v/hen they
are cutting their teeth ; but it goes off as the teeth
are cut. However, if it fliould be very troublefome,
bleeding and a cooling regimen may keep it under ;
and if the gums are much inflamed, they may be
cut wherever the prominence points out that a tooth
is ready to pierce. Young horfes which are troubled
with worms fometimes cough : but this ceafes when
the worms are carried off.
It is obferved of broken-winded horfes, tliat they
draw in their breath flowly, their flanks filling up
gradually and with a feeming difficulty, becaufe the
lungs do not yield eafily to the air drawn in -, and
that their flanks fall fuddenly, and their breath burfts
forth with violence ; infomuch that a man in the
dark, by holding his hand on a horfe's mouth and
nofe, may eafily difcover if he is broken- winded.
Such horfes are alfo obferved to lofe their delicacy in
the flavour of their food, fo as to eat even their litter ^
and to be very droughty.
To be certain that a horfe is broken-winded (d)
fqueeze his throat, near the channel, when his flanks
beat, and make him cough , if the found of the
{J) MaifonRuJii(jue, Ttrn. I, p. 2 a.
cough
154 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
cough is dry, 'tis a bad fign, and if it is dry and
frequent, ftill worfe ; whereas little need be feared
if it is attended with raoifture. A horfe that farts
when he coughs is almofl alwa}s broken-winded,
and that fort of broken-wind is thought the mod
difficult to cure. Horfes which have been broken-
winded from their birth, or thofe in which it has been
long negleded, are incurable. Neither can broken-
winded horfes that take in wind by the fundament,
ever be cured.
In general, the gre^t point in this diforder is, to
keep the horfe on a moderate diet, and give him mo-
derate exercife ^ and it will be right to moiften his
dry food, fuch as hay, corn, &c, with water, to
prevent his drought, and confequent too plentiful
drinking.
SECT. XI.
Of the Colic, and Inflaimmtion of the Bozirls.
TH E moft frequent caufes of colics in horfes
are, inflammation in the bowels of the abdo-
men, and the fwallowing of too much cold water
when heated. When the complaint arifes from this
laft caufe, Mr. Ofmer (a) directs than an ounce of
Philoninm Romawm be given, and repeated if there
be occafion.
When the colic proceeds from inflammation, it is
conftantly attended with an extraordinary quicknefs
of the pulfe ^ the horfe lies down often and fuddenly
rifes up again, he ftrikes his belly with his hind feet
and flamps with his fore-feet. When the pain is ve-
ry violent, he may have convulfive twitches in his
{a) P. I 56.
eyes.
HORSES. 155
eyes, and fometimes flretch out his limbs as if lie
was dying ; he falls into cold damps and profufe
fweats, his ears and feet being akernatelv hot and
cold. If the colic is attended with a ftcppage of
urine, he will often ftriveto ftale, turn his head to
his flanks, and frequently turn on his back and roll
about. If the inflammation proceeds towards a mor-
tification, a little dung is fometimes difcharged with
a foetid blackiiTi ichor.
This inflammatory colic may take it's rife from
any caufe wiiich excites an inflammation, and ihould
be treated as fuch, with evacuations and a cooling
regimen. The cure muft begin with fpeedy and
plentiful bleeding. The ftrait-gut lliould then be emp-
tied of all the hard dung that' a well-anointed hand
can take away. This will make room for a fliarp
Simulating gl\fl:er, in which four ounces of fome
purging fait, and as much oil, may be diflblved ;
and it fhould be repeated every four or fix hours, till
the horfe has a natural flool. If the pulfe continues
hard and quick, with heat, a dry mouth, and thirfl:,
the bleeding Ibould be occafionally repeated. Plenty
of mild drink, fuch as bran and water, fhould be
given ; and inftead of adminiftering at once fuch a
quantity of a purgative medicine as might, by irri-
tating, increafethe diforder, fix or eight ounces of
fome purging fait may be dilTolved in a fufficient
quantity of \\ ater, and half an ounce of the fait fo
diflblved be given every half hour, till die horfe has
a fl:ool.-»^The Romans always anointed the belly and
back of horfes diat were ill of any complaint in the
bowels, with a mixture of oil and warm ingredients.
The oil and fpirit of hartfhom before mentioned,
may anfwer this purpofe very properly ; efpecially if
it be continued till the creature begins to fweat, v/hen
he fhould be covered up very v/arm. In fimilar dif-
orders in the human body. Sir John Pringle lays ve-
ry great ftrefs on blifters applied to the part affetV
ed.
156 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
ed. " As I have oftener than once," fays he (b)
known the patient relieved in his bowels, as foon
as he felt the burning of his fkin ^ and at the fame
" time have ftools by a purge or glyfter, which had
" not operated before ; we have reafon to believe
" that the blifter adlsasan atifpafmodic, and not as
" an evacuant."
If, by the ufe of thefe means, a natural flool is
produced, and the horfe ceafes to flart, tumble, and
gather up his legs, there is room to hope his recovery :
but if the fymptoms grow worfe, and figns of a
mortification appear, it is hardly to be expedcd that
he l"hould get the better of a diforder which has feiz-
ed parts in themfelvcs fo thin, and in which it makes
fo rapid a progrefs. The Jefuit's bark being in ma-
ny cafes found a powerful antifeptic, fome recom-
mend here a ftrong decodlion of it, with the addi-
tion of a quantity of wine equal to that of the decoc-
tion : but this, I doubt, is faid more from theory
than from any experience of its good effedls ; though
indeed, no bad effe6l can attend it. Vegetius (V)
advifes that, in cafe a glyfter cannot be conveniently
given, long and h^rd /uppojilon'es be made of honey
and fait, and kept conftantly in the anus, in order
to excite ftools. When the belly is very much dif-
tended, he (d) recommends tapping, after the fol-
lowing manner, *■' About four fingers breadth un-
der the horfe's navel towards his yard, in the middle
region of the belly, thruft in a lancet, foas to pierce
through the peritoneum, or membrane which lines
the infide of the belly, but with caution, left the
inteftines be likewife hurt ; and after the lancet is ta-
ken out, introduce into the incifion a pipe bored
through with many holes, by which the water may
be difcharged." — It would feem more advifeable to
perform this operation with a trocar, as is now prac-
(^) Obfervations on the Difeafes of the Army, />• 155.
{c) Lib, I. c. xlii. ' {d) Lib. L c. xliii.
lifed
HORSES. 157
tiled by furgeons in the dropfy, and to do it rather a
Httle on one fide, than in the middle of the belly,
becaufe the mufcles there being more of a flefhy na-
ture, will more eafily heal, than when wounded in
the middle, where they become tendonous.
After a free paffage is obtained, it will be proper
to give every night three or four grains of opium,
and to continue it till there is no danger of a relapfe :
then the horfe muft have fuch food as fhall be the
lealt flatulent or irritating.
I beg leave here again to caution gentlemen againfb
the many hot medicines commonly prefcribed in
this difcrder, fuch as turpentine, oil of juniper, anife,
pepper, &c. all which encreafe the difeafe by
their greater ftimulus, and therefore are now entirely
laid afide in fimilar diforders in mankind.
SECT. XII.
Of Worms and Bots.
HORSES, as well as men, are fubje(5l to two
forts of worms, the one round, refembling
the earth-worm, and the other the afcarides, which
lodge themfelves chiefly in the ftrait-gut. The bots
are a kind of large maggot, compofed of circular
rings, with little fharp prickly feet along the fides of
their bellies, with which they faften themfelv-es to
the lower orifice of the ftomach, from the blood-
velTels of which they draw their nourifhment, and
when many, create ulcers in it, and make fuch ha-
vock as quickly to deftroy the horfe. They adhere
fo ftrongly, that, even after the animal is dead, it
requires a good pull to difengage them. The pain
which they create occafions fome degree of fever,
the horfe grows lean, and hide-bound. They fome-
times
158 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
times give fo much pain, as to bring on convulfions,
efpecially in the eyes. Though the belly is not fvvell-
ed as in the colic, yet the horfes roll themfelves
about, throw themfelves on their back, and put their
head between their legs, to fhew the place where
the pain is, Vegetius obferves {a), that if the flrait-
put is carefully examined by the hand, the bots will
befouna adhering to it in clufters, that they flick fo
faft as not to be puUed.away without much difficulty,
and when brought out, flick to the lingers.
We are told in the Miifon Ruftiqiie (b), that there
is a fly which finds the means of infmuating itfelf
into the fundament of horfes, and of laying its eggs
there. As foon as it enters, the horfe is thrown into
a kind of madnefs, jumping, running, tolling his
head, for a full quarter of an hour ; but as thefe flies
are only in the country, none but horfes which are
fed in the field are in danger of them.
M. de Reaumur's account of this infetl, and of
its manner of introducing itfelf mto the fundament
of the horfe, is fo very curious, that I am confident
my readers will readily pardon the length of the fol-
lowing quotation from that great and juilly-admired
Naturalifl (c).
" Among the animals that areufeful to mankind,
" the horfe is certainly entitled to the firfl rank ;
" and yet this animal, confiderable as it is, and con-
" trived by it's figure and beautiful proportion to
*' afford us pleafure, was not given to man only :
" there is a fpecies of fly, whofe right in this crea-
" ture may be looked upon as Hill better founded
*' than ours.
" If the horfe be ufeful to us, he is abfolutely ne-
" ceffary to this fly ; and the fame Being that formed
" the horfe, formed alfo this fly, which depends
" wholly on the horfe for its prefervation and conti-
(a) Lih. I. c. Hi. . ih) Tom. I. /-. 26 1.
(f1 Hijioire des Infe^es.
nuance.
HORSES. 159
nuance. The flies we are fpeaking of, like thofc
of the other fpecics, receive their firfh hfe and
growth in the form of worms : but thefe are worms
which can be produced and nouriflied only in the
inteftines of a horfe. It is there alone they can
enjoy tlie proper temperature of heat, and receive
thenourifhment neceifary for them.
*' Befides the long, and fometimes very long,
worms which have been obferved in the bodies of
horfes, there have been feen alfo in them fhort
ones. All authors, both antient and modern,
who have treated of the difeafes of horfes, have
taken notice of thefe fhort worms ; but M. Valif-
nieri is, I believe, the firfb who has traced them
to the laft flage of their transformation, and feen
them change into a hairy kind of fly, like the
drone.
" The flies from which thefe bots are produced
inhabit the country, and do not come near houfes,
at leaft not near thofe of great towns ; and there-
fore horfes are never liable to have thefe fliort
worms in their bodies if they have been kept
within doors, efpecially in a town, during the
fum.mer and autumn. It is in the former of thefe
feafons, and perhaps too in the beginning of the
latter, that the females of thefe flies apply them-
felves to the anus of horfes, and endeavour to
gain admittance, in order there to depofit their
eggs, or perhaps their worms.
The precife infl:ant of their entrance will fcarce
admit of an eye-witnefs, but by the meerefh
chance : yet M. Valifnieri fays, that Dr. Gafpari
had beheld this very uncommon fight. — The Doc-
tor was one day looking at his mares in s. field,
and obferved, that from being perfcdly quiet,
they of a fudden bscame very refliefs, and ran
about in great agitation, prancing, plunging, and
kicking, with violent motions of their tails. H«
concluded, that thefe extraordinary cffedls were
produced
i6o A TREATISE on CATTLE.
*' produced by fome fly buzzing about them, and
" endeavouring to fettle upon the anus of one of
" them ; but the fly not being able to fucceed, he
" obferved it go off, with lefs noife than before, to-
" wards a mare that was feeding at a diilance from
" the reft ; and now the fly taking a more effedlual
■' method to compafs its defign, palTed under the
'' tail of the mare, and fo made its way-ta the
' anus.
*' Here, at firft, it occafioned only an itching,
by which the inteftine was protruded with an in-
creafed aperture of the anus ; the fly taking ad-
vantage of this, penetrated farther, and lodged
itfelf in the folds of the inteftine -, this done, it
was in a fituation proper for laying its eggs. Soon
after this, the mare became very violent, running
about, prancing, and kicking, and throwing her-
" felf on the ground ; in fliort, was not quiet, nor
" returned to feeding, till after a quarter of an
" hour.
" The fly then, we fee, can find means of depo-
*' fiting its eggs, or perhaps its worms, in the fun-
" dament of the horfe ; which once effe6ted, it has
*' done all that isneceffary for them.
" If thefe worms are not already hatched when
" firft depofited in the horfe, but are then only eggs,
" it will not be long before they are hatched, from
" the nutritive heat they there receive.
" Thcfe worms foon make their way into the in-
" teftines of the horfe ; they occupy fuch parts of
" this region as are to them moft convenient, and
" fometimes, as we Ihall foon fee, penetrate even
*•' to tlie ftom_ach. All the hazard they appear to be
" expefed to is, that of being carried away from
^'' the places they have fixed on by the excrement,
" v.'hich may feem likely to drive all before it. Bat
*' nature has provided for all things ; and when we
*' ftiali have farther defcribed thefe worms, it will be
" feen, that thev are able to maintain their fituati-
on.
HORSES. i6i
on, and to remain in the body of the horfe as
long as they pleafe.
"" There is a time when thefe worms are of them-
■ felves defirous to leave this their habitation ; it be-
ing no longer convenient to them after the purpo-
fcs of their growth are anfwered. Their transfor-
mation to a fly muft be performed out of the
horfe's body ; and accordingly, when the time of
their transformation draws near, they approach
towards the anus of the horfe, and then leave
him of their own accord, or with the excrement,
with which they fuffer themfelves to be carried
along.
*' The figure of thefe worms affords at firft fight
nothing remarkable, but they appear like many
other worms of the clafs, that change into flies
with two wings, and like the greatefl part of the
worms of that clafs, they are provided with a
fort of fcaly claws, with which they draw them-
felves forward.
*' A difference in colour may be obferved between
thofe that are taken by force from the intefline of
the horfe, and thofe which come away of their own
accord j fome are greenifh, fome yellowifh, and
others nearly brown : diefe laft are neareft to,
and the greenilh ones the farthefl from, the time
of their transformation.
" If M. Valifnieri and myfelf have rightly obferv-
ed the pofition of their claws, fome of them dif-
fer from others in this refped ; but they are per-
fedly fimilar in every other particular, and change
into flies fo nearly alike, that I am convinced they
are of the fame kind and origin,
'' However this may be, the worms we now are
fpeaklng of have two unequal claws ; and fince I
have been acquainted widi the nature and ufe of
thofe claws, it has feemed to me eafy to conceive
how they may remain in the intefliines of a horfe,
in oppofition to all efforts of the excrements to
M " fore?
i6z A TREATISE on CATTLE.
" force . them out. One that I was handling and
" examining faflened upon my finger in fuch a man-
*' rier that I found great difficuhy to get it off. Thefe
" daws are a fort of anchors, differently indeed dif-
" pofed from the wings of common anchors, but
" contrived to produce the fame effedl.
" Befides thefe two claws, nature hath given to
" each of thefe worms a very great number of tri-
" angular fpikes, or briflles, amply fufficient to
" arm again ft the coats of the inteftines, and to re-
" fift the force employed to drive them towards die ,
" anus, provided the head be diredled towards the
" flomachof thehorfe.
" It will undoubtedly be afked, whether thefe .
" worms are not dangerous to horfes P — The mares.
" which afforded me, for feveral years, thofe on
" which I made my obfervations, did not appear to
" be lefs in health than thofe which had none : but
" it may fometimes happen, that they are in fo.
*' great a quantity in the body of the horfe, as to
" prove fatal to him. M. Valifnieri fuppofes thefe .
" worms to have been the caufe of an epidemical .
difeafe which deflroyeda great many horfes about
Verona and Mantua in the year ijiy, and the
obfervations communicated to him by Dr. Gafpa-
ri fufHciently confirm his fuppofition.
" This gentleman, upon differing fome horfes
that died of this diftemper, found in their ilo-
machs a furprizing quantity of fhort worms ; to
give us fome idea of which, he compares them to
the kernels of a pomegranate opened : each of
thefe worms, by gnawing on the coat of the fto-
mach, had made for itfelf a kind of cell therein,
and each of thefe cavities would eafily contain a
grain of Indian wheat. One may readily imagine
to how wretched a condition the ftomach mufl be
reduced by this means : the outer membranes were
inflamed, and the inner ones ulcerated, and cor-:
rupted. A very fmall quantity of thefe worms
" were
ii
trt
HORSES. 163
*' were found in the fmall inteftines, and only a few
" in the larger, to which laft they were found affix-
" ed, but had corroded them.
" It is, perhaps, only when thefe woims are in
" great numbers, and incommode each other in the
*' intcllines of the horfe, that they make their way
'' towards the ftomach ; and indeed a very few flies
" muft be fufficient to overftock the infide of a
" horfe, provided they fliould depofite all their eggs,
" and thefe be animated ; M. Valifnieri having
*' counted upwards of feven hundred eggs in the
" body of one fingle fly.
" When one of thefe worms has quitted the anus
" of the horfe, it falls on the ground, and imme-
" diately feeks out for fome place of fafety to which
** it may retire, to prepare for the laft ftage of it's
" transformation, by which it is to become a fly. —
*' Its Ikin now hardens and thickens by degrees,
" and at length forms a folid fhell or cod, the fhape
*' of which fcarcely differs from that of the worm.
*' It is firft of a pale red colour, which changes in-
*' to chefnut, and at length, by the addition of gra-
" dual and fucceflive fhades of brown, the fhell is
" rendered black. Before the worm pafTes into a
"" nymph, it is of the form of an oblong ball ^ and
" it remains in this fhape much longer than worms
*' of the flefh-fly kind. I have met with fome that
" have not fhewn the fmalleft traces of the legs,
" wings, and head of the nymph, even at the end
" of five or fix days; and from thence I firft learnt
" that thefe worms do not become nymphs imme-
" diately upon their firft change, but that, in order
*' to become flies, they muft undergo one change
" more than caterpillars generally do to become but-
*' terflies."
Mr. Ofmer {d) rightly infers from M. de Reau-
mur's foregoing account of this infedt, firft, that
(^ P. 183.
M 2 horfes
1 64 A TREATISE on CATTLE,
horles may occafionally die of fpafms and convulfi-
ons when thefe bots, for that is the name which our
farriers give to thefe fhort worms, lodge in the fto-
mach and inteftines, and corrode the fame, inflead
of coming away by the anus ; and fecondly, that no
medicines ought to be efteemed a remedy for the
bots, till we fee them brought away dead by their
effeds ; and therefore, that if they did not generally
make their efcape by fome means unknown to us,
horfes would die much oftener than they do of thefe
infeds.
The cure which he (e) propofcs, is as follows :
" Take of new milk one quart, honey half a pound ;
" give die horfe this in a morning : let him faft af-
" ter it an hour and a half : then give him a pint of
" ftrong brine, more or lefs, according to die fize
" and ftrength of the horfe, and let him faft ano-
*' therhour. Repeat this three or four fucceflive
" mornings." It deflroys the worms, and leaves
no appearance but of their fkins, or fhells, which
are brought away with the excrement. Mr. Ofmer
adds, that this method will likewife kill all forts of
worms. Linnaeus fays, (/) that the bran of die
flote fefcue grafs will cure horfes troubled with the
bots, if thev are kept from drinking for fome hours.
The ajcandes, which are the other kind of worm
I obferved that horfes are fubjed to, are difcovered
by their being often protruded with the dung, toge-
ther with a yellowifh-coloured matter, like fulphur;
and the horfe troubled with them often rubs liis
breech againft walls or pofts. A folution of fubli-
mate thrown up by a glyfter is here the proper cure.
Difledions have fhewn M. Bourgelat, that worms
occupy almofl all parts of the body. (^) He has
found them not only in the sefophagus, flomach, and
inteftines, but even in the arteries and veins, efpe-
{/) P. 184. (/) Flora Suecica, Jr!.g$.
(;r) Matiere medicaU raifor.nce, /. 1 ^9
ciallv
HORSES. 165
cia!!y in the vefu porta ; as alfo in the urinary' and
bilious du(f\s. Thefe parts, in afles, oxen, fheep,
and goats, are often full of leeches, ilugs, or the
fjfciohi hepjtica of Linnasus. No part of the body
cfcapes one kind or other of them.
M. Boiirgelat cbferves, {e) that of all the purging
medicines vshich carry off the worms and their eggs,
or feed, bitters are the beft, not only as being detefl-
cd by them, but alfo as reftoring the ftrength and
fundion of the bowels, and preventing their being
bred again. Oils, which are found to lock up their
pores, and thereby fuffocate them, are alfo recom-
mended here. In thefe opinions he is fupported by
Vegetius (/), who advifes to boil wormwood, cref-
fcs, and coriander feed, in a quart of oil, and to
give half a pint of this, mixed with luke-warm wa-
ter, in the morning, falling, for feveral days toge-
ther. He advifes to add nitre to it, or to give it in
the horfe's food : and after the ftrait-gut is emptied
of hard faeces, he direds a fimilar oily glyfter to be
thrown up, to deflroy the afcarides lodged there.
M. Bourgelat rightly advifes (/), that the ufe of
thefe medicines be followed by that of calomel, two
drams, and as much jalap, in a ball with honey • be-
caufe this, by its ftimulus, may break the cohefion
of the worms to the parts, and expel them. He like-
wife thinks (y^), that fheep, efpecially, fhould fre-
quently have fait given them for thefe worms, which
are in the vefiels about the liver.
After the appearance of worms has ceafed, it will
be proper to continue the ufe of bitters every morn-
ing for fome time, in order as was before obferved,
to recover the tone of the bowels, and to prevent a
return of thefe troublefome, though not always dan-
gerous enemies. To this end, take wormwood and
chamomile flowers, of each two handfuls ; gentian
{e) Ibid. />. I31. (/) Lib. I c. xli-J.
{g) Matine meJicale, ^.131. (/>) Ibid. p. 132,
M 3 root
i66 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
root and Jefiiits bark, of each two ounces ; make a
decodion of them in water till there remains two
quarts, and give half a pint of this three times a
day. Cinnabar and filings of iron, made into balls,
may alfo be given for the fame purpofe, before the
decodion.
SECT. XIII.
Of Purgingy and of Molten Greafe.
PURGING, in horfes, as in men, is fometimes
a falutary crifis, and in that cafe little need be
done. We may guefs it to be fuch when a healthy
horfe is feized with a purging preceded by a flight
fever, or fome other caufe which we may not be able
to aflign. All that is neceffary here is, by a mild
opening diet to encourage the difcharge, if it conti-
nues only a fev/ days.
When the purging continues with a confiderable
degree of fever, figns of pain, or griping, lofs of
appetite, and a difcharge of the mucus of the bow-
els, it is time to think of a remedy. If the horfe is
in flefh and ftrength, we fhould begin with bleeding,
and then give mild purging medicines to difcharge
any acrid matter which may have fallen upon the
bowels. Modern pracftice has taught phyficians,
that this is by much the fafeft and moft efficacious
method even in the dyfentry, as we find on every
occafion. inculcated by Sir John Pringle, and by the
ingenious and obfervant Dr. Monro in his very ufeful
account of the difeafes in military hofpitals (/').
" The purgative," fays this lafl gentleman, " that
** upon repeated trials we found to anfwer the beft,
^* was fal catharticum amarum with manna and oil,
*' which operated without griping or difturbing the
(0 P- 10.
" patient,
H O R S E S. 167
'^ patient, procured a freer evacuation, and gave
'' greater relief, than any other purgative medicine
'* we tried. A great part of the cure depended on
" tlie frequent ufe of gentle purges in the beginning,
'* to carry off the corrupted humours : the purgative
" was repeated every fecond, third, or fourth day,
" as the cafe required. It was furprizing with how
" little lofs of flrength the fick bore the operations
*' of thefe purges •, and I obferved that the patients,
*' inftead of being weakened, feemed ftronger, and
*' more brllk and lively, after the operation of each,
" from the relief it gave, by evacuating thofe pu-
" trid corrupted humours which made them perpetu-
" ally fick and uneafy while they remained in the
*' bowels." — For horfes, three ounces of this fait
may be mixed with four ounces of oil, and as much
manna ; the whole dilTolved in a pint of water, and
repeated occafionally. In order to take off the pain,
and alleviate the excoriation frequently occafioned in
the ftrait-gut by the acrimony of the matter difcharg-
ed, glyfters of ftarch diffolved in milk, or mild oily
mixtures, (hould be frequently thrown up. It is
hkewife of great confequence that the animal have
plenty of mild drink and food, which may as it
were llieath the fharp humour difcharged into the
bowels, as well as line them againft its acrimony :
fuch are, decodlions of farinaceous feeds ; and ab-
forbents, fuch as chalk, and burnt hartfhorn. If
there are figns of much pain, from fix to feven grains
of opium may be given on the days free from purg-
ing ; and in order to encourage the perfpiration, a
dram of camphire, mixed with two drams of nitre,
may be made into a ball with honey, and given with
the opiate. With this view, it will be highly necef-
fary to rub the horfes well, and to keep the liable in
which they are fweet and clean.
Vegetius, upon the fame principle, advifes (k) to
{k) Lib. III. c. xvi.
M 4 give
1 68 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
give the following Gompofition. " Mix carefullv
" in a mortar two ounces of wax, one pound of
** lard, half an ounce of tar, an ounce of cafTia,
" and an ounce and a half of pepper, to be made
*' into balls, the horfe drinking with them an infufi-
" on of pomegranate-flowers in rough wine." Dr.
Monroe (/) gives us the manner of rendering bees-
wax mifcible with water, which is, by melting it
with a third part of hard foap and water, and beat-
ing them well together, then adding gradually more
water. Dr. Huck found this mixture to be very fer-
viceable in North America after evacuations, where
there was much pain in the bowels. The fat about
a fheep's kidney melted and mixed with rriilk, in
the proportion of one fourth of the fat, is alfo found
very proper in this view. This mild method anfwers
much better than the ufe of aftringents, and feems
greatly confirmed by a horfe's being cured in a few
days by eating green lucerne when it firft came in, in
fpring, after his diforder had baffled every other me-
thod before tried for feveral weeks.
In this purging diforder, the extremity of the
ftrait-gut fometimes comes out, in which cafe Vege-
tius (m) advifes treating it in the following manner,
if it is not readily got up when it firft appears, before
it is much fwelled : fcarify the gut with a lancet in
the moft prominent parts, and fqueeze the fcarifica-
tions fo that the blood may be difcharged -, then fo-
ment it with warm water, and when it is foftened,
return it. Continue daily to put up the hand fmear-
ed with fome warm ointment, till the ailment is
healed .
Somewhat allied to the foregoing diforder is what
is called Molten Greafe^ which is a fat or oily difcharge
with the dung, arifing from the melting down of
the fat of a horfe's body, generally occafioned by
violent exercife in hot weather. It is always attended
(/) P. 77. {m) Lib. HI. (. vi.
with
HORSES. 169
with a fever ifti heat and reflleflhefs, with flartings,
oppreflion, Ihortnefs of breath, and f>mptoms cf
internal pains. Thehorfc foon lofcs flefli, and conn-
monly becomes hide-bound, with a fwelling in the
legs. If not quickly remedied, it term.inates in fpee-
dy death, or Ibme obflinate diforder hard to be cur-
ed.
The cure fhould begin with plentiful bleeding,
which fhould be repeated in proportion as the fever
and oppreflion continue. The blood will appear re-
plete with the diflblved fat, fo as to feel greaiy and
flippery to the touch. Cooling nitrous drinks fhould
be given, and at the fame time fuch a purge as was
before direded, to carry off the load fallen on the
bowels, with mild glyflers, to prevent pain and exo-
coriation in the flrait-gut. The horfe fhould alfo be
well rubbed, and cloathed warm, in order to encou-
rage a difcharge by the fkin.
Though, in the beginning of a purging, as well
as in the molten-greafe, rhubarb, or othe warm me-
dicines, do not anfwer, yet when the original cauf^
feemsto have been pretty well got the better of, thev
may then be occafionally fubflituted. Thus, rhu-
barb, or fuccotrine aloes, may be occafionally given
to the quantity of from two drams to half an ounce,
as fhall be found neceffary, and be occafionally con
tinued until health is leftored. M. Bourgelat (n)
declares, that ipecacuanha is no lefs efficacious to
horfcs than it is to men, given in the quantity of
from two drams to half an ounce. This may be gi-
ven inflead of the rhubarb, or mixed with it, two
drams of each. If the flrength of the bowels is
much impaired, warm bitters, fuch as a de.co(ftion of
gentian, zedoary, orange-peel. Winter's bark, cha-
momile-flowers, may be given two or three times a
day, and antimony mixed with bran or corn.
(/i) Eco/g Veterinnire j Formules, p. 91.
SECT.
lyo A TREATISE on CATTLE,
SECT. XIV.
Of the Jaundice.
THIS DIfeafe is known by the dufky yellow-
nefs of the eyes, of the infide of the mouth,
and of the tongue and lips. The horfe is dull, lofes
his appetite, and has a flow fever, which increafes
with the jaundice. He is often coftive ; his dung
is of a light green, or pale yellow colour ; his urine
is high-coloured, and he ftales with difficulty. The
right fide, or region of the liver, is hard and dif-
tended, and if the animal is much difeafed, the cure
is fcarcely pradlicable, but generally ends with a
walling diarrhaea.
The horfe fhould be bled in proportion to the de-
gree of fever. The ftrait-gut fhould be then emp-
tied of the hard dung, and fharp flimulating glyf-
ters fhould be given ; and alfo at the fame time a
purging draught, to carry the bile downward. An
infufion of an ounce of fenna with two ounces of a
purging fait will anfwer this purpofe, becaufe a fli-
mulating medicine is firfl wanted. The belly may
afterwards be kept open with balls compofed of hard-
foap an ounce, aloes half an ounce, as much mille-
pedes, and honey ; to be wafhed down with a de-
codlion of madder, turmeric, and burdock. Anti-
mony may be alfo given with the corn. If the dif-
order does not yield to this courfe, recourfe muft be
had to calomel, two drams, with as much rhubarb,
made into a ball ; and the foap-balls and deco6tion
be given between, and continued while the leafl yel-
lownefs remains. It will be of advantage to rub the
belly well, and anoint it with the volatile liniment, or
oil and fpirit of hartfhorn.
SECT.
HORSES. 171
SECT. XV.
Of the D if orders of the Kidneys and Bladder.
INflammation of the kidneys is attended with tlie
general fymptoms of fever, together with a
weaknefs, or a difinclination to move the back and
loins, and a difficulty of making water, which ap-
pears thick, and fometimcs bloody.
Copious bleeding is here neceflan,'', and plenty of
mild diluting drink, fuch as a decodion of mallows,
marfh mallow roots, linfeed, &:c. Likewife, four
ounces of oil rubbed in with the yolk of an egg, and
two drams of nitre, may be given three or four times
a day in a draught of the deco(f\ion. The ftniit-gut
fhould be emptied by the hand of all the dung, which,
by it's preffure, may give pain to the kidneys, and
by weighing on the neck of the bladder, prevent, the
difcharge of the urine. At the fame time, mild
gl\ flers widi nitre and oil lliould be inje6led. This
will be a much fafer way of treating this diforder,
than having recourfe to the more ftimulating diure-
tics.
If a difficulty of making water comes on unat-
tended with a fever, yet with figns of a pain, or
inaptitude to motion, in the back, the complaint
may be fuppofed to be in the ureters, or vefTels lead-
ing from the kidneys to the bladder. Here the in-
tention of cure is much the fame, namely, by di-
luents, and mucilaginous or oily medicines, to dilate
and lubricate the pafTage, and thereby promote the
difcharge of the obftruding matter. Here the plen-
tiful ufe of honey becomes likewife proper ; and alfo
diuretics of a more ftimulating quality, fuch as, an
ounce of balfam of capivi dilTolved in the volks of
two or three eggs, and mixed with half a pint of the
decodion of mallows, Sec. Spirit of nitre may be
added
172 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
added to all the drink that is given, and garlic or
onions may be added to the decodion of mallows.
Glyfters in which two ounces of turpentine and half
an ounce of nitre have been dilTolved, with four oun-
ces of oil^ are here thought to be of peculiar fervice.
Opiates, as they take off the fpafms or contractions
occafioned by the pain, are alfo of great advantage ;
and may be given to the amount of five or fix grains
in fubftance, or of the tincture in proportion, mixed
with thedecoftion of mallows.
If notwithftanding thefe means, a purulent matter
is difcharged along with the urine, it may be feared
that fuppuration has come on in the kidney, and that
it will end in a confumption. In this cafe, the fame
medicines as above are to be continued, efpecially
the honey and balfam of capivi. If the urine be-
comes coffee-coloured and foetid, the inflammation
is turning to a mortification, which is the fore-run-
ner of a fpeedy death.
Vegetius {a) notes the following fymptoms of a
horfe's having a (tone in the bladder. " He is tor-
tured, groans, extends himfelf, endeavouring to
ftale, he cannot pifs freely, but his urine comes
" away by drops, a little at a time, and this he fuf-
fers daily. In order to afcertain it, put the hand,
well oiled, into the flrait-gut, and at the neck of
the bladder, under the fundament, towards the
root of the yard, feel with your fingers, and you
will there perceive the flone. Too flrong an ef-
fort fometimes burfts the bladder near the funda-
ment, and lets the urine out by the fundament.
In this cafe, the flone may be taken out by intro-
■" ducing the fingers, or a proper inflrument, by the
" hole made in the bladder and rectum ; and the
'' wound may be cured by the ufe of mild glutinat-
" ing glyflers ; though this is feldom to be expevfted
" on account of the violence which the parts had un-
(a) Lib. I. c. xhi.
" dergone
HORSES. 173
*' dcrgone before." — How far the foap-lee may be
given with fuccefs for the ftone in horfes, I knov/
not ; or whether the flone may not be prefled lo low
by the anus, as that it may be cut upon, is a point
which I fhall not pretend to determine. Vegetius
likewife obfcrves, {b) that the bladder may be fo dif-
placed, or fo diftended with urine, by hard run-
ning, that the liorfe cannot flale -, and in this cafe he
advifes, " to put the hand well oiled into thefunda-
" ment, and prefs it downward towards the yard,
" where will be found the bladder full of urine,
*' which fhould then be drawn gently towards the
" fundament, on the right and left fide ; and this
" fhould be continued till the horfe makes water."
He alfo remarks, (c) that *' if, by hard labour c*
" exercife, a liorfe be denied time to ftale, an in-
*' fiammation arifes in the neck of the bladder, may
" extend all along the urethra, and fo flraighten
*' the paflage that the creature feels great pain in
" voiding it's urine. The fame too may proceed
" f'om feveral other caufes, particularly hen's-dung,
" or other noxious things or animals taken in with
" the food, and may be known by the horfe's bend-
" ing his legs and letting his belly down to the
*^ ground. He here advifes, to bleed in any vein
*' which appears nearefl the part ; but if a fufficient
/' quantity of blood is not obtained from that vein,
" to bleed in the neck. The redum fhould then be
" freed of dung, and after this fix fpoonfuls of
" pounded fait mixed with a pound of oil, be thrown
'■*' warm into the horfes's fundament, his head beino-
" placed downward, on a flopmg ground, in order
" that the medicine may the more eafily defcend in-
" to his inward pai^s. The (limulus given by this
" will loofen his belly, and generally mitigate the
" pain. If this remedy gives relief but flowly,
" thmfl your hand as before direcfled into the funda-
{b) Lii. I. c. li. (c) Lib. HI. c. >rj.
"ment.
1 74 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
*' ment, with great caution, towards the right fide,
" and reverfe or turn it towards the left, preflingthe
" bladder gently, that fo the urine may flow out : but
" prefiing it hard would be hurtful."
He alfo propofes (d) the following general reme-
dies. " Reduce quick fulphur into powder, mix it
*' with oil, and rub with it, as alfo with warm water,
*■' the horfe's belly, yard, and loins." The Sarma-
tians wrapped their horfes in cloth from neck to feet,
and fumigated them by lire wing caftor upon live
coals fet under them, fo that the fmoke of the coals
and caftor warmed the whole body. When the coals
were withdrawn, the horfe was walked a gentle p>ace,
and flaled foon. Powdered fait made into a fmall
fuppofitory with oil and honey, and inferted into the
urethra, or hole in the yard, prefently provokes
urine. Any crawling infed: put under the fheath
has the fame effed. Standing near water that
runs gently, provokes urine, as alfo does {land-
ing in a place where otherhorfes have Hal-
ed. Figs boiled in water, and given with nitre,
anfwer the fame purpofe ; and fo does garlic.
If the feafon of the year does not afford green
food, give the horfe hay fprinkled with honey
and water, or barley boiled in water. Boil leeks, and
fqueeze out half a pint of their juice, which mix
v/ith fix fpoonuils of oil and three fpoonfuls of wine,
and give it the horfe to drink, after which walk him
up and down.- — It is proper, fays Vegetius (e), to
know the following travelling remedy, which is al-
v/ays at hand : after you have foftened clay with the
urine of any horfe, mix it with wine, and after it is
fettled, pour the clear liquor through the noftrils ; it
prefently provokes urine. ^
Horfes are likewife fubje6l to diabetes, or making
water in too profafe a quantity, and this is feldom
cured if they are weak or old. It is attended with a
{J) IliJ. (f) Hi'. I. c. Ixi.
lofs
HORSES. 175
lofs of appetite and ftrength. For cure, a decocti-
on may be made in lime-water, of comfrey-roots,
tormentile, red rofes, pomegranate-rind, oak-bark,
or fiich like aftringents, and a pint of this decocflion
given three times a day, with half an ounce of pow-
dered Jefuits bark added to each draught. Calo-
mel, given as an alterative, has been found efficaci-
ous when the foregoing has failed. Horfes fubjedt to
a diabetes fhould not be fuffered to drink too freely,
and lime-water fhould be added to their common
water.
When horfes have been much ftrained by hard la-
bour or violent exercife, they are liable to make bloo-
dy urine ; but reft and a cooling regimen will foon re-
move it. The aftringents ufually prefcribed in this
cafe have very little effed: ; and the only medicine
of that kind proper to be given here, is the Jefuits-
bark, to the quantity of half an ounce three times a
day, or oftener if the cafe is very urgent.
PART
76 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
PART II.
Of THE EXTERNAL DISEASES of
HORSES.
INTRODUCTION.
IN O W proceed to treat of fuch diforders of Hor-
fes as appear externally, and whofefeat is within
the reach of manual affiftance. In doing this, I fhall
begin with thofe of the fimplefl nature, and purfue
the various appearances and changes that externa!
injuries occafion ; tracing hkewife to their origin fuch
external appearances as take their rife from internal
caufes. By following this plain and eafy method,
there will be no occafion to make ufe of many
ftrange hard names, too commonly ufed, which, far
from conveying even the fmallelt idea of the difor-
der itfelf, ferve only to puzzle and confound thofe
who are but little acquainted with them ; and at the
fame time their natures will be explained on more
general principles.
I fhall begin with a bruife, as being the flighted
external injury ; though when it proceeds from vio-
lent caufes, it may be productive of great evils.
SECT. L
Of Bruifes.
A Bruife or Contufion, is a liurt inflided by a
blunt inflrument, which brings on a fwelling,
proceeding either from a flagnation of the circulat-
ing fluids in the bruifed vefllls, or rather from a num-
ber of the capillarv veilcls being broken.
If
HORSES. 177
If Biuifesafcnot timely attended to, the obftruc-
tions may bring on inflammation, luppuration, or
even gangrenes, and all their conlequences. They
may alfo be attended with inconveniencies arifmg
from tlie part affedled. On the joints, they bring on
violent pains, inflammation, &c. on the breaft, a
difficulty of breathing, the intercoftal mufcles being
hurt : where the bones are flightly covered, the mem-
brane next to the bones may be injured, as often
happens in the head ; whence great pain, &c. In-
ternal parts may alfo be hurt ^ whence many bad
lymptoms, and even death.
I fhall confider Bmifes in three lights ; firft, with
a whole flvin, and without any fluctuation of matter;
next, as having a fluduation of matter ; and third-
ly, as attended with a wound in the fkin.
In the firft of thefe cafes, the intention fhould be
to recover a free ciftulation in the obfl:ru6led veflels,
and the abforption of the extravafated fluids. There
are feveral methods fuccefsfuUy ufed for the cure of
flight bruifes : thus, cold water mixed with fait, vi-
negar, fpirit of wine fimple or camphorated, anfwer
the purpofe.
Horfes are very fubjedl to bruifes on the withers,
as it is called, or to be bruifed by the faddle. In this
cafe, the part fhould be frequently bathed with warm
vinegar, or verjuice ; or a poultice may be applied,
made with either of thefe and crumb of bread, or
fine oatmeal, which lafl: takes a better confiflience
than the former. Which ever of them is tQ be ufed,
the poultice fhould be fpread over with oil or hogs-
lard, to prevent it's growing hard, or adhering too
clofely to the part. The following poultice, direct-
ed in the Maijon Ruflique {a), feems well adapted
for this purpofe. " Take a gallon of red wine, and
boil it gently over a clear fire till it thickens ; then
add to it two pounds of wheaten flour, a pound of
(rt) Tom. I. p. 2o6-
N honey,
178 A TREATISE on CATTLE,
honey, and as much black foap ; mix and lay it on
the part affected. Where wine cannot be conveni-
ently had, Itrong beer may be fuccefsfuUy iifedin-
flead of it. On the third or fourth day, when all
fear of inflammation is over, it will be advifeable to
rub the part with opodeldoc, or fome fuch warm fpi-
rituous application, which helps much to remove
pain, as the fridlion does to force the obftru6ting
matter into the circulation. The acrid aftringents
have here no good efFed;.
Though, at firft, when a bruife is received, a fmall
fluctuation feems to be felt, yet the extravafated fluid
may by the above means, or rather by nature, be
again taken into the circulation ; but if a confide-
rable quantity of blood, or other fluid, is felt under
the fl<;in, vent mufl: be given to it, left it putrify, and
endanger the neighbouring parts. For this purpofe,
a flrong lancet is the befl: inftrurwent ; and the incifi-
on fhould be made in the direction of the mufcles
and fibres of the part aflfedled, yet fo as that the
difcharge fhall be made in the mofi: depending part.
The extravafated fluid being thus difchargcd, the
incifion may be drefled with any mild ointment,
and coveretl with a wine or beer poultice, in order to
recover the tone of the bruifed veflels. The incifion
is to be treated afterwards in the manner that will be
directed in the cure of an abfcefs.
If the bruife is attended with a wound in the fl^in,
great care fhould be taken not to let any very acid ap-
plication touch the wounded part ; for the confe-
quence would be, that all the wounded and contuf-
ed flefh would be turned to a hard dead flough, which
mufl: be digeft:ed off by means of inflammation and
fuppuration ; whereas if mild applications are ufed,
much of the bruifed flefh may again recover itfelf,
and a kindly digeftion will come on. Proper poulti-
ces may be applied over the dreHings laid on the
wounded part.
While
HORSES. 179
While thefe applications are ufed externally, bleed-
ing mull not be forgot, proportioned to the bruifes
and fubfeqiient inflammation. The horfe fhoiild
have plenty of diluting warm drinks, in which nitre
has been diflblved, in order to preferve the fluidity
of the blood, and to carry off by urine the particles
that may not be re-afliimed into the circulation.
This becomes particularly neceflary in cafe the inter-
nal parts are hurt ; and the body fhould be kept open
by glyfl:ers and cooling purges.
SECT. II.
Of Strains and Liixatmis.
NEARLY a-kin to bruifes are fl:rains, in
which the ligaments of the joints, and often
the tendons which end at or near the joints, and their
mufcles, arc over-fl:retched ; by which means fome
of the fmaller vefl!els may be broken, and the like
pain and fwelling, often too inflammation, ,may
arife, as in the former cafe ; and nearly the fame
method of cure is to be purfued.
Bleeding becomes neceflary if the pained fwell-
ing are confiderable. Vinegar or verjuice are to be
applied externally, or a poultice made with either of
them and flower and hog's-lard, or oil ; or fuch a
poultice of wine or beer as before dire6led.. As
time is neceflary here for the fl:rained parts to reco-
ver from the injury they have received, an external
application which fhall, by being bound moderately
tight round the joint, give it fome degree of fl:rength,
is neceflary. For this purpofe, there is not perhaps
any thing better than wine or beer, with fome fmail
quantity of a farinaceous fubftance and oil, boiled to
the conflftence of a jelly or plaiflier, fpread on leather,
applied to the part, and then covered with fome
N 2 fmall
i8o A TREATISE on CATTLE.
fmall binding to prevent it's being rubbed off; like-
wife taking care that this plaifter do not quite fur-
round the limb or joint to which it is applied, left the
binding of it like a ligature fliould ftop the free cir-
culation of the blood, and thereby caufe the parts
below it to fwell. When there is no longer any dan
ger of fwelling and inflammation, and the joint be-
gins to be ftrengthened, perhaps moderate exercife
and the foft treading of the field is the moft eligible
fituation for a horfe.
Strains in particular parts may be diftinguifhed by
the impaired motion of the ftrained limb : for exam-
ple, if the flioulder is ftrained, the horfe ftands with
the fore-foot extended as if it were ftiff, and when
in motion he forms part of a circle with the lame leg.
In this cafe, Vegetius (a) recommends the following
application. " After the ftioulder has been well em-
brocated with wine and oil in the fun, take half a
pound of bay-berries, a pint of wine, as much oil,
and three ounces of nitre, boiled to the confiftence
of an ointment. Let the ftioulder be anointed with
this ointment warm ; let it be rubbed long at a time,
and afterwards put the horfe to fwim."
Mr. Ofmer (b), after rightly obferving that the
caufe of J^menefs in the fore-part of a horfe is not
eafily diftinguifhed by thofe who are not attentive to
it, becaufe lamenefs there may be occafioned by
ftrains in the mufcular or t-endinous part of the leg,
fron^ the flioulder to the foot of the horfe advifes,
when the mufcles and ligaments of the fhouldcr are
ftrained, to keep the horfe as free from motion as
poffible, and to apply vinegar and difcutient fomenta-
tions, which will probably bring him to a found ftate.
When the mufcles of the back and loins are ftrain-
ed, as not unfrequently happens through the fatigue
of a long journey, the ruggednefs of the roads, over-
(«) Lil'. I!, c. xliv. (^) Pfge 63.
ftretching
HORSES. i8i
^retelling in leaping, or carrying too grear a burthen,
the f) mptoms are, that the horfe drags his hinder legs,
his loins ftagger and fliake, he cannot gather his
limbs together, his tail falls down, and he fometimes
piffes blood. Vegetius (t) here advifes, that the
horfe be bled, that the blood^taken from him be mix-
ed with oil and nitre, and that his loins be thorough-
ly rubbed therewith. Internally, he orders three
ounces of nitre in powder, three ounces of honey,
and three ounces of oil, mixed with three pints of old
wine, to be poured down his throat in four days, an
equal quantity each day ; and that then a quantity of
c) prefs-leaves and barley-flour be kneaded with fharp
vinegar, and laid upon the part affedted.
The different kinds of lamenefs to which the hin-
der part of the horfe is liable, are mod eafily diftin-
guifhed from each other when he is put into motion.
Thus, if the horfe be lame in any part belonging to the
foot, he will endeavour to eafe that foot, by not fet-
ting it fully on the ground : if the lamenefs be in the
fetlock joint, or in the tendons of the leg, or in the
hock, or if it proceeds from fwellings furrounding
the hock, fuch caufes will be manifeft to the eye"
if the lamenefs be in the fliffle, he cannot fo well ex-
tend the limb, but will drag his toe upon the ground
more or lefs, according to the degree of injury he has
received, as in a lamenefs in the fhoulder : and if it
be in the ligaments belonging to the joint of the hip,
or whirl-bone, he will reft his foot indeed fully upon
the ground, but will halt or ftep fhort in his trot,
with that leg, though he may perhaps appear perfed-
ly found in his walk.
Extenfion and counter-extenfion are the proper
methods of reducing diflocations. The part fliould
then be rubbed with vinegar, and a cataplafm may
be applied twice a day, compofed of common fait
and the white of eggs, mixed with a little vinegar
fc) Lib. III. c. V.
N ? and
iSz A TREATISE on CATTLE.
and oatmeal. During this application, reft mufl:
be allowed.
A diflocation of the hip-bone happens very fel-
dom, and when it does, it proceeds from either a
rupture or an elongation of the round ligament. Mr.
Ofmer (d) mentions hi^aving feen two inftances
of this kind, the one in a horfe and the other in a
bullock ; as well as a fradlure of the thigh-bone, and
of the OS ilium.
" Todiftinguifh, fays he, with certainty the rea-
lity of thefe, it muft be obferved, that when the
bone is broke in either of thefe cafes, the animal will
in a few days begin to reft upon that leg a little, and
gradually more and more, till the bone confolidates
and becomes united ; but when the round ligament is
ruptured, or elongated to a certain degree, the head
of the bone falls from the focket, the leg fwings,
the animal cannot reft upon it at all ; and, by conti-
nually bearing all the weight upon the other leg, he
foon becomes lame of that alfo, and at laft does not
chufe to ftand at all.'— Moreover, in the cafe of elon-
gation or rupture of the round ligament, the whole
limb becomes longer ; and in cafe of a fraction of
the thigh-bone, it becomes fhorter ^ but in a fracflion
of the OS ilium, this abbreviation may or may not
happen, as depending wholly on the nature and man-
ner of the fradure.— The common lamenefs attend-
ing this joint is occafioned by the relaxed ftate of
fome of the ligaments belonging to it, brought on
by fome ftrain at firft, and by exercife continued on
fuch weak part."
Vegetius (e) advifes, in order to reduce a difloca-
tion of the hip, that the foot of the found fide be
(hod with a fandle, or fhoe made of broom, careful-
ly bound on, and fo to raife that foot, that the
animal may be able to fet down the hoof of the lame
limb flat and full upon the ground. In cafe of a lux-
{d) Page 57. {e) Lib. III. c. xniiii.
ation
HORSES. 183
ation of the thigh, he advifesthat the horfe be plac-
ed in the fun, that the hip be rubbed a very long
while with warm wine and oil, till he fweats ; that
he be then pulled with a halter, and made to run by
little and little, whilll another perfon, holding a
thong or ropelli^ck in his hand, follows him, and all
of a fudden, in the midft of the animal's running,
draws with violence the hip ftrait towards himfelf.
If it gives a crack, the bone is returned to it's place,
and he fets his feet down equally : but if the joint
cannot be u : right the Rrfl day, the hip (hould be
pulled frequently on the fecond- day in the fame
manner, nil it return to it's place. — Strains in the
lower joints are difcovered by thelamenefs and fwell-
ing of the part.
Mr. Ofmer (f) declares, that " the beft reme-
dy for a relaxation of the fmue, is to make a whey
with fome alum boiled in milk, to foment the part
with this whey, and to bind on the curds by way of
cataplafm ; and after a few days, colcothar of vitri-
ol finely powdered and mixed with white of eggs,
is to be applied as a charge every twenty-four hours,
and a fmooth bandage kept on the part," — Here, I
cannot help taking this opportunity to difapprove of
the ufe of vitriol, or any fuch acrid application, in
complaints of this kind ; becaufe it can fcarcely be
imagined that tlieir particles can pierce the horfe's fkin
fo as to benefit the ligaments underneath ; and if
there is the leaft breach or fore in the (kin, their effect
muft be the making of a flough, which mufl be cafl
off by means of inflammation and digeftion, and
thus occafion a new evil.
To remove inflammations, and to prevent indu-
ration and enlargement of the ligamentous parts and
teguments of the fetlock joint, the confequence of
repeated violence, it is a good cuflom to caufe the
joints of a horfe, after a day's hard exercife, to be
(/) P^e 81.
N 4 well
1 84 A TREATISE on CATTLE,
well fomented with flannels dipped in warm water.
For want of this precaution, lamenefs often happens
to this joint.
When the fkin or ligaments are inflamed or enlarg-
ed by repeated violence, as aforefaid, the horfe
fhould be bled plentifully, have cooling falts given
him, and be turned loofe in fome open building.
The irijured parts fliould be fomented twice a day
with a deco6lion of emollient herbs, fuch as white
lilly roots, mallows, elder leaves and flowers, bay-
berries, or the like, boiled in water. The parts,
when dry, are to be filled with fome cooling oint-
ment, and fome of the fomentation fliould be thic-
kened with oatmeal, to the confiflience of a poultice,
and kept thereon. When the tenfion and indurati-
on are gone off, more ftrengthening applications
may be made ufe of, and the horfe be turned to
grafs, and indulged with proper reft, in order that
the difeafed parts may recover their former finenefs,
tone, and ftrength. How much time and reft are
here neceflary, will appear to any man that has ever
flrained the tendons of his wrift or ankle. Let him
reflect on the pain he has fuffered from the leaft mo-
tion of the parts, and how long a time has been re-
quired before he could bear the extenfion of the joint,
even when all appearances have been fair. Will not
the cafe be the fame with the horfe .? And yet jockeys
will prepofteroufly exercife them daily, to keep them
in wind, fay they, or prepare them for the race.
To cure thefe ailments in the joints of horfcs, the
farrier blifters and fires upon the joint ; by either of
which, applied whilft the pans are inflamed, the in-
flammation thereof is certainly increafed, and from
thence a callofity of thofe parts is moft likely to be
intailed for ever. Such methods are as contradidlory
to the diforder, as, to ufe Mr. Ofmer's words on
this occafion, {g) endeavouring to extinguifli fire by
pouring
HORSES. 185
pouring on it fpirits of wine. If the fire reaches no
farther than the fkin, little advantage can accrue to
the tendon -, but tlie fibres of the fkin will become
contraftive, his body may be kept gently open
by glyfters.
Of all the applications invented to promote fuppu-
ration, none are fo eafy as poultices ; and of thefe
there is not perhaps any one preferable to that made
of bread and milk foftened with oil. WKite lilly
roots, linfeed bruifed, or, if greater warmth is ne-
ceflary, fenugreek feed bruifed, boiled onions, &c.
may be added to the poultice. The tumour may be
covered with the poultice twice a day, till it comes
to that degree of ripenefs as to require opening ;
which will be known by the eminence of the I'kin in
fome part of it, and a fludluation of matter.
It appears to be but feldom that inflammations ter- "
minate in a gangrene in horfes : but if the fever and
other fymptoms run fo high, or the conllitution of
the animal is fo far decayed, that a gangrene does
Gome on it generally proves fatal. If the tenfcnefs
of the fkm goes off, and it feels flabby to the touch,
if a thin ichor feems to be contained under the fkin,
and if the pulfe quickens and finksj" and the animal
grows cold, a gangrene is begun. In this cafe fcari-
fying by feveral incifions through the fkin is judici- .
oufly pracftifed, becaufe it difcharges a pernicious
ichor, and makes way for whatever efficacy there
may be in tc^ical applications. The common digef-
tive ointments foftened with oil of turpentine, feem
as good a drelfing as any for the fcarifications ; and
O upon
194 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
upon them, all over the part, may be laid the then-
aca Londineiijh fLondon treacle), which fhould al-
ways be ufed in the beginning of a gangrene ; or
wliat is equally good, if not preferable, a cataplafm
made with leye and bran, and applied warm ; for
this will retain its heat better than moft other topicals.
Some recommend the ufe of the grounds of ilrong
beer mixed with bread or oatmeal. Thefe drellings
with fpirituous fomentations, fhould be repeated twice
a day. Warm cordial medicines fliould be given at
the fame time internally. Modern pradice feems to
eftablifh the bark as the chief medicine in «his cafe.
It may be given to the quantity of an ounce every
two hours in a mixture, in which wine may make a
confiderable fhare. After the feparation of the ef-
char, the vi^ound becomes a common ulcer, and mull
be treated as fuch.
If we attend to the thicknefs and ftrength of the
fl^in of horfes, we fhall find that all abfcefTes in them
fhould be opened. In fmall abfcefles there is feldom
a neceflity for a larger opening than what will give a;
free difcharge to the matter ; and in large ones,
where the matter fpreads a good way inder the Ikin,
an incifion fhould be made to its utmoft extent ; or
a circular or oval piece of the Ikin fhould be cut
away, which at once lays open a great fpace of the
abfcefs, fo that it may be drelTed down to the bot-
tom, and the matter of it be freely difcharged.
Notwithftanding the depending part of an abfcefs
is efteemed the moll eligible for an opening, yet it
Ihould be always on the fuppofition that the tegu-
ments are as thii! in that place as in any other part of
it ; otherwife it will be generally advifeable to make
the incifion where nature' iridicates, that is, where
the tumour is permanent, though it fhould not be in
a depending part.
It is generally taught that critical abfc;e{res fhould
be opened before they come to an cxad fuppuration,
in order to give vent the fooner to the noxious matter
of
HORSES. 195
of the difeafe : but they who open before this period?
mi fs the very dcfign they aim at; fince but Httle
matter is depofued in the abfcefs before it arrives to-
wards its ripenefs, and befides, the ulcer afterwards
grows foul, and is lefs difpofed to heal.
When an ablLefs is already burft we are to be
guided by the probe where to dilate ; and as the
horfc's fkin is ftrong, the knife is the beft inftrument
for opening farther. The manner of opening with
a knife is by Hiding it on a director, the groove of
which prevents its being mifguided. If the orifice
of the abfcefs is fo fmall as not to admit the direftor,
it mull be enlarged by a piece of fpongc-tent, which
is made by dipping a dry bit of fponge in melted
wax, and immediately fqueezing as much out of it
again as poflible, between two pieces of tile or mar-
ble : the effedl of this is, that the loofe fponge being
ccmpreffed into a fmall ccmpafs, if any of it is in-
troduced into an abfcefs, die heat of the parts melts
down the remaining wax that holds it together, and
the fponge, fucking up the moifture of the abfcefs,
expands, and in expanding opens the orifice wider,
and by degrees, fo as to give very little pain.
. The ufual method of drefling an abfcefs, the firffc
time, is with dry lint only, or, if there be no flux of
blood, with foft digeflives fpread on lint. If there
be no danger of the upper part of the wound reunit-
ing too foon, the doflils fhould be laid in loofe ; but
if the abfcefs be deep, and the wound narrow, the
lint fhould be crammed in pretty tightly, in order to
have afterwards the advantage of dreifmg down to
the bottom without the ufe of tents, which are now
almoft univerfally decried ; though indeed flill too
much employed by the very people who would feem
to explode them mofl ; fo difficult is it to be con-
vinced of the true efficacy of nature in the healing of
wounds. Formerly the virtues of tents were much
infifled on, as it was then thought abfolutely necef-
fary to keep wounds open a confderable time, to
O 7. give
196 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
give vent to the imaginary poifon of the conf^initi-
on ; it was ruppofed too, that they were benehcia!
in conveying '"ihe pi'oper fuppurative or fa^cotick me-
dicines down . '> the bottom of the abfcefs ; and
again, that, by ibforbing the matter, they preferved
the cleanlinefs of the wound, and difpofed it to heal.
But this reafoning is not now efteemed of any force :
furgeons at prefent know that a wound cannot heal
toofaft, provided that it heals firmly from the bot-
tom'^ they are v/ell fatisfied alfo, from \vhat they
fee in wounds where no medicines are applied, tliat
nature of herfelf fhoots forth new flefh, and is inter-
rupted by any prciTure v/hatfoever ; befides, is ro
the conceit of tents fucking up the matter, v/hich is
efbeemed noxious to healing, they are fo far from be-
ing beneficial in the performance of it, that they are
of great prejudice ; for if the matter is ofFenfive in
its nature, though they do abforb it, they bring it
into contact with every part of the finews ; and if
it be prejudicial by its quantity, they do mifchief in
locking it up in the abfcefs, and preventing the dif-
charge it would find if the dreflings were only fuper-
ficial : but in faft, matter, 'when it is good, is of
no dilTervice to wounds with regard to its quality j
and furgeons lliould therefore be lefs curious in wip-
ing, them clean when they are tender and painful.
That tents are impediments to healing, rather than
afliftants, we may learn from confidering • the effeft
of a pea in an iffue, which by prefTure keeps open
the wound juft as tents do -, and if there are inllances
of wounds healing very well, notwithftanding theufe
of tents, fo there are alfo of iffues healing up, m
fpite of any meafures we can take to keep peas in
their cavity. In fhort, tents in wounds, by refilling
the growth of the little granulations of the flefh, in
procefs of time harden them, and in that manner
produce a fiflula ; fo thiit inftead of being ufed for
the cure of an abfcefs, they never fhould be etnploy-
ed but where, we mean to retard the healing of the
external
HORSES. , 197
external wound, except in fome little narrow abfcefT-
es, where, if they be not crammed in too large, they
become as doUils, admitting of incarnation at the
bottom i but in this cafe, care ihould be taken not
to infmuate tlicm deeper than the fkin, and they
Iliould be repeated twice a day, to give vent to the
matter they confine. Tents do nioft good in little
deep abfcefles, whence any extraneous body is to be
evacuated, fuch as fmall fplinters of bone, Sec. I
have been the more parcicular in this quotation frorn
Mr. Sharp, in order the better to explode the too fre-
quent ufe of tents in farriery.
The ufe of vulnerary injedlicns into abfcefies has
been tliought to bear fo near a reftm.blance to the ufe
of tents, that they both fell into difrepute almofl at
the ikme time. It has been faid in their favour, that
in deep tibfced'es, where no ointment can be applied,
they digeft, cieanfe, and correifl the malignity of
the^Wj but the facfl is, that they do fo much mif-
chief bv frequently diftending the parts of the ab-
fcefs, fiiii when they are injecfled, and afterwards by
their addition to the matter generated in the abfcefs,
tliat they are hardly proper in any cafe : though one
of the great mifchiefs of both injections and tents
has been a miflaken faith amongft praftitioners, that
wherever their medicines were applied the part would
heal ; and, upon that prcfumption, they have ne-
gle(fted to dilate abfceffes, which have not only re-
mained incurable after this treatment, but would of-
ten have done fo for want of a difcharge if they had
been drefTed more fuperficially.
In drelling wounds it is common to apply the me-
dicines warm or hot, upon the fuppofition that heated
ointments have a flronger power of digefling than
cold : but as any medicine will foon arrvve to the heat
of the part it is laid on, whether it be applied hot or
cold, the efficacy of the heat can avail but little in fo
fhort a time : and as dolTils dipt in hot ointments
arc not cleanly, and even gr(m ftiff and painful, I
O 3 think
198 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
think it rather preferable to apply them cold ; or per-
haps, in winter, a little warmed before the fire after ,
they are fpread ; obftrving, if the ulcer be uneven,
to make the doifils fmall, in order that they may lie
clofe. Over the dolfils of lint may be laid a large
pledgit of tow fpread with bafilicon, which will lie
foft on the part. In this manner the dreffings may
be continued till the cavity is incarned ; and then it
rnay be cicatrifed with dry lint, obferving to keep
the fungus down as before di reeled.
In the courfeof dreffing, it will be proper to have
regard to the fituation of the abfcefs, fo as to favour,
the difcharge as much as poflible -, and to this end
the difcharge mufl be affifled by comprefs and band-
age. The frequency of dreffing will depend on the
quantity of difcharge : once in twenty-four hours is
generally fufficient.' I have already mentioned not u>
be fcrupuloufly nice in cleaning a wound •, but
it is worth remarking, that a fore fhould never be
wiped by drawing a piece of tow or rag over it, but
only by dabbing it with lint. The parts about it may
be wiped clean in a rougher manner, without any
prejudice. Another caution neceflary in the treat-
ment of abfceffes is, that we fhould not on all occa-
fions fearch into their cavities with the probe or fin-
ger, becaufe this often tears them and indifpofes them
for a cure.
SECT. V.
Of Ulcers.
AS Horfes have been more cruelly treated in
complaints which come under this denominati-
on, than perhaps in any other diforder, I cannot utt
with greater humanity tow^i;ds that valuable part of
the creation, nor with more juftice to their owners,
• than
HORSES. 199
than by ftill continuing to be guided by Mr. Sharp?
wlio has with ih mucli judgment, and a praife-wor-
thv contempt of myftery, thrown off the trappings
of furgery, and reduced it to plain and Jull princi-
ples, in which lie had theeafeand welfare of the pa-
tient conftantlv in view.
When a wound or an abfcefs, fays he, (a) dege-
nerates into fo bad a ftate as to refifl the methods of
cure before laid down, and lofes that complexion
which belongs to a healing wound, it is called an ul-
cer •, and as the name is generally borrowed from the
ill habit of the fore, it is a cuftom to apply it to all
fores that have any degree of malignity, though they
are immediately formed without any previous wound
or abfcefs.
Ulcers are diftinguilTied by their particular difor-
ders, though it feldom happens that the affections are
not complicated •, and when v/e lay down rules for the
management of one fpscies of ulcer, it is generally
requifite to apply them to almoft all others. How-
eve/, their moft diftinguifhed characters are, the cal-
•lous ulcer, the fmuous ulcer, and the ulcer with ca-
ries of the adjacent bone ; though there be abundance
more known to furgeons, fuch as the putrid, the
corrofive, the varicous, &j;c, but as they have all ac-
quired their names from fome particulai affe<5lion, I
fhall fpeak of the treatment of them under the gene-
ral head of ulcers.
It will often be in vain to purfue the beft means of
cure by topical applications, unlefs we are affifted
by internal remedies : for as many ulcers are tht ef-
fects of a particular indifpofitionof the body, it will
be difficult to bring them into order while the caufe
of them remains with any violence, though they are
fometimes, in a great degree, the difcharge of the
indifpofition itfelf ^ as in contagious difeafes, and al-
fo in other diforders which proceed from fome gene-
{a) treatife of tht Operations of Surgery ; Intro Ju^hny chap. Hi.
O 4 \9\
200 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
ral indifpofition of the blood. Thefe general or
chronical indifpofitions will be confidered when I
come to treat of the ufe of alteratives.
When an ulcer becomes foul, and difcharges an
acrid thin ichor, the edges of it, in procefs of time,
tuck in, and growing fkinned and hard, give it the
name of a callous ulcer, which, fo long as the edges
continue in that ftate, muft neceiTarily be thereby
prevented from healing : but we are not immediate-
ly to deflroy the lips of it, in expedation of a fud-
den cure ; for while the malignity of the ulcer re-
mains, which was the occafion of the callofity, fo
long v/ill the new lips be fubjed to a relapfe of the
fame kind, however often the external furface of
them be deflroyed ; fo that when w^e have to deal
with this circumflance, we are to indeavour to bring
the body of the ulcer into a difpofition to recover by
other methods. Reft, with the alTiftance of power-
ful internal medicines, or even a rowel near the part
affeded, may give fuch a diverfion to the humour, as
fhall difpofe an ulcer to heal ; yet when the furface
of the ulcer begins to yield thick matter, and little
granulations of red fiefh fhoot up, it will be prpper
to quicken nature by deftroying the edges of it, if
they remain hard. The manner of doing this, is by
touching them for a few days with the lunar cauftic,
orinfernal ftone. If the part will bear the applicati-
on of a comprefs and bandage, the preffure foon redu-
ces the callus. Some choofe to cut them off with a
knife ; but this is very painful, and not, as I can
perceive, more efficacious ; though when *the lips do
not tuck down' clofe to the ulcer, but hang loofe over
it, the eafieft method is cutting them off with the
fcijOTars.
To digeft the ulcer, and to procure good matter
from it when in a putrid ftate, an infinity of oint-
ments have been invented ; but the yellow bafilicon
alone, or foftened down fometimes with turpentines
or balfam capivi, and fometimes mixed up with dif-
ferent
HORSES. 201
ferent proportions of red precipitate, feems to fervc
the purpofes of bringing an ulcer on to cicatrifation,
as well as any of the others. When the ulcer is in-
earned, the cure may be finifhed as in other wounds ;
or if it does notcicatrife kindlv, it may be waflied
with lime-water, or widi die fame water in a pint of
which half a dram of corrofive fublimate mercury
has been diflblved, or drefled with a pledgit dipt in
tindure of myrrh.
The red precipitate has of late years acqxiired the
credit it deferves for the cure of ulcers. When mix-
ed up with bafilicon, it is moft certainly a digeftive;
fince it hardly ever fails to make the ulcer yield a
thick matter in twenty-four hours, which difcharged
a thin one before the application of it. As greater
proportions of it are added to the ointment, it ap-
proaches to an efcharotic •, but while it is mixed with
the ointment, it is much lefs painful and corrofive,
than when fprinkled on a fore in powder : in which
jail form it is a ftrong efcharotic, and much of it can
never be ufed without making a flough. On that
account, when the nature of the ulcer requires fo
ftrong an efcharotic, the powder fhould not be re-
newed till the former flough is caft off ; which it will
generally be the next day, or at fartheft the day af-
ter.
If the ulcer fhould be of fuch a nature as to pro-
duce a fpongy flefli, fprouting very high above the
furface, it will be neceffary to deftroy that flefh by
fome eicharotics, or the knife. This fundus differs
very much from that which belongs to healing-
wounds, being more prominent and lax, and gene-
rally in one mafs ; whereas the other is in little pro-
tuberances. It approaches often towards a cancerous
complexion -, and when it rifes from fome glands,
does fometimes actually degenerate into a cancer.
The lunar cauftic, or infernal ftone, is here the beft
efcharotic ; and the precipitate, or what I think
better.
202 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
better, the angelic powder (a, compofition of preci-
pitate and burnt allum), may be alfo uled.
In ulcers alfo, when the fubjacent bone is carious,
great quantities of loofe flabby flelh v/ill grow up
above the level of the fkin ; but as the caries is the
caufe of the diforder, it will be in vain to exp^ft a
cure of the excrefcence, till the rotten part of the bone
is removed ; and every attempt with efcharotics will
be only a repetition of pain to the difeafed, without
any advantage.
In ulcers of the glands,and indeed of almoft everv
part, this diforder is very common : but before trial of
the fevere efcharotics, I would recommend the ufe of
the ftrong precipitate medicine, with comprefs as
tight as can be borne v/ithout pain ; which I think
generally keeps it under.
Mr. Sharp informs us, that he had the pleafure of
feeing an eminent furgeon bring an ulcer foon to dif-
charge good matter, and put on as kindly an appear-^
ance as he ever beheld in a fore, by the ufe of pled-
jrith a tight bandage, it will fwell
on every fide, and dilate the ulcer without any pain.
Some caries of bones are fo very fhallow, that
they crumble infenfibly away, and the wound fills
up : but when the bone will neither exfoliate, nor
admit of granulations, it will be proper to fcrape it
with a rugine, or perforate it in many points with a
fuitable inftrument down to the quick. The drefF-
ing of carious bones, if they are (linking, may be
dollils dipt in the tintlure of myrrh ^ otherwife thofe
of dry lint are eafieft, and keep down the edges of
the ulcer better than any other gentle application.
Very good fuccefs has attended the ufe of the balfam
capivi and oil, as recommended by Mr. Sanxay, in
fuch cafes.
That noble animal, the horfe, is, as well as his ri-
der, liable to gun-fhot wounds, particularly in bat-
tle. What renders thefe wounds fo alarming, is die
contufion and laceration of the parts, and the ad-
mifllon of extraneous bodies into them. The treat-
ment of thefe wounds confifts in removing the extra-
neous bodies as foon as poffible ; to which end the
horfe mufl be put into the fame pofture, as near as
may be, as when he received the wound. If the
bullet cannot be extra dted this way, nor by cutting
upon it, which fhould be pradlifed when the fituation
of the blood-velTels, &c. does not forbid, it mud be
left to nature to work out, and the wound be drefled
fuperficially -, for we muft not expect that if it be
kept open with tents, the bullet. Sec. will return
that way : and there is hardly any cafe where tents
are more pernicious than here, becaufe of the vi-
olent tenfion and difpofition to gangrene v/hich pre-
fently enfuc. To guard againll mortification in this
and all other violent contuled wounds, it will be
proper to bleed immediately, and foon after to give a
. glyfter.
HORSES. 207
glyfter. The part iTiould be drefled with foft digef-
tives, and the comprefs and roller applied very ioofe,
being firll dipt in brandy or fpirit of wine. The
next time die wound is opened, if the appearance
tiireaten danger, the fpintuous foirfentation may be
employed, -and continued till the danger is over. In
gun-lhot wounds, it ieldom happens that there is any
eftufion of blood, "unlefs a large veffel is torn -, for the
bullet makes an efchar, whicli ufually feparat^s in a
few days, and is followed with a plentiful difcharge.
When die wound is come to this period, it is ma-
nageable by the rules already laid down.
When burns are iuperficial, not raifmg fuddenly
any \efcication, Ipirits of w ine give the fpeedieft re-
lief ; for by their quick evaportion, they render the
part fo cool that inflammation is prevented, much
more effedually than by the application of any other
lefs volatile, and therefore lefs cooling fubftance.
Though this reafon wasnot known till within thefe few
years, yet the prac^tice was very frequent among per-
fons whofe trade fubjeds them often to this misfor-
tune. If the burn excoriates, the fpirit would turn
tlie fore to a ilough, and therefore mufl not then be
madeufeof; but, inflead of it, a mild application,
fuch as oil, or a mixture of oil and ointment of el-
der. When the excoriations are very tender, flan-
nels wrung out of warm milk and applied hot, are
very comfortable. If the burn has formed efchars
they mult be drefled with a foft digefl:ive, till they
caitoff, and then cured as before direded. Great care
is neceffary to keep down the fungu^^o which end,
the edges may be drelTed with lint dipt in a weak
folution of vitriol, and afterwards dried j or they
may be touched with the vitriol-ftone. There is al-
fo greater danger of contradlions from burns after
the cure, than from any other wounds : to obviate
which, embrocations of neat's-foot oil, and keeping
the part extended, arc abfolutely necelTary.
SECT,
2o8 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
SECT Vlil.
Of I'timoiirs.
ENCrSTED Tumours, being efTentially diffe-
rent from thofe which' tend to fuppuration, claim
to be treated of feparately. Under this head, I fhall
not only confider (uch tumours as do not ufually ter-
minate in fuppuration, and are properly called encyd-
ed tumours, but alfo, with Vegetius, include a
ganglion, a varix^ and an exojlofis.
The (?;zc3^y?d'<^ tumours are di ft inguifhed by the ap-
pellations of atheroma^ jieatoma^ and meliceris ; names
given to denote the different confidence of the mat-
ter contained in them {b)^ as alfo their being con-
tained in a furrounding coat; and to them may here be
added a ^anzUon. becaufe the method of cure is the.
fame for all. The coat which furrounds them fome-
times adheres, but generally does not, to the parts
underneath it. They are without pain, and prefage
no great danger, unlefs they grow very large. If
they are near a joint, or fo fituated as to incommode
the motion of it, they (hould be cut out ; otherwife
they may continue long without much incon-
venience.
The thicknefs of a horfe's fkin rendef s e^ery other
means of cure befides extirpation ineffeftual. To
this purpofe Vegetius advifes, (c) " That the horfe
be laid down aira bound, and that on the part affed-
ed an incifion be made lengthways, with a knife, on
the right and left fides, in proportion to the large-
nefs of the tumour, leaving in the middle a fmall
{h) The matter contained in the atheroma refembles milk-curds ;
that in the Jieatoma is compofed of fat, or a fuety fubftance i
and the contents ot the me/iceris look like honey.
(f) Lib. ii. c- XXX. • •
fwarth
HORSES. zog
fwartli of the- fkin which is above the tumour un-
touched : the tumour \)cing then cut out, the part is
healed without leaving a fear." If the tumour is too
large to admit of a fwarth being left in this manner,
a longitudinal incifion muft be madeupon the tumour,
and if this does not appear fufticient, let another in-
cifion be made acrofs the former, till the tumour ig
laid futliciently bare. The tumour is then to be dif-
fetfled out, without wounding it's coat, if poflible,
or any veflllor membrane that may be contiguous.
The tumour being extracfled, if the haemorrage be
fmall, the lips of the wound may be brought toge-
ther, and being retained by proper comprefs and
bandage, the wound is generally cured in a few days.
If the haemorrhage is profufe, it muft be ftopped
as before di reded ; but if by accident or necelfity,
any part of the including cyft or coat fhould be left^
it muft be taken away by the ufe of efcharotics, fuch
as the lunar cauftic, or, if milder will do, red precipi-
tate may be ufed, and the flough be brought away
by mild digeftives : for if the leaft part be left, there
is danger of a relapfe.
Hard fwellings in the glands in any part of the bo-
dy, but efpecially in the neck and about the head,
which have not a tendency to a kindly fuppuration,
Ihould alfo be cut out in the fame manner as foon as
they are obferved ; for the longer they remain, the
larger, and therefore the more troublefome they be-
come. Of this kind is, in particular, that which, for
want of proper care in bleeding in the neck, or after-
wards, frequently falls on the part, is attended with
many bad iymptoms, and does not digeft kindly.
Mr. Ofmer {d) here very properly advifes to the
following effeifl, " Warm fomentations, cooling
ointment, and a poultice of bread and milk, applied
as foon as the evil is perceived, will very probably
remove it. But if that method fliould fail, a rowel
{:!) Filgt 104.
P • is
2IO A TREATISE on CATTLE.
is to be put into the (kin, in the middle of the horfe's
bofom, and with a tobacco-pipe, or any other
tube, the fkin to be blown up quite to the part af.-
fedted ; in order that an immediate derivation may be
made therefrom as foon as the rowel runs. If, after
this, any fwelling or induration fhould ftill remain on
the neck, it will now be remo\ ed by poultice and
fomentations, or by the i^ollowing mixture :
" Take of fprit of wine four ounces, camphor
and bole p ^-wdered, each one drachm, aqua fortis
twenty drops ; dip fome lint or tow in fome of this,
apply it to the part, and bind over it fome warm
thick cloaths, without which this application does no
good on any occafion."
Alfo fwellings on any part of the back or withers,
occafioned by bruifes from the faddle, he declares
this medicine more efficacious than any other he is ac-
quainted with ; for that it will in a few days either in-
tirely difperfe fuch fwelling, or bring it to a head :
and what is particular, adds he, when matter is pro-
duced, the fwelling itfelf is of much lefs magnitude
than it would be by any odier application producflive
of matter. It may be ufed twice a day, rubbing
fome of it upon the fwelling, and wetting with it
fome lint or tow to be bound on the part. As foon
'as the matter is formed, and perceived to fluduate
under the finger, it fhould be let out with a: knife,
and fome lint dipped in this mixture, and applied to
the part once or twice a day, will cure it without any
digeftive or other means. Mr. Ofmer farther ob-
ferves, that it will cure a rawnefs on the back, or
other part, if the fungus flefh be not grown too high.
When an extraordinary dilatation happens in the
coats of the veins it is called a vari>:^ or bloodfpavin,
and is feldom attended with pain or much inconveni-
ence. A comprefs and proper bandage fomctimes
give an opportunity to the coat of the vein to reco-
ver itfelf. If this does not fuffice, and if the fwelling
is at all troublefome, the effeftual way of curing of ic
is,
HORSES. 2n
is by laying it open the whole length with a lancet,
difcharging the grumous blood, and healing it up as
a common wound. If an haemorrhage enfues, a liga-
ture noay be made on tlie vein above and below the
incifion.
When an acute eminence, or excrefcence, which
is properly called an cxojlofis^ pufhes preternaturally
above the bone, creating no pain or inconvenience,
and unaccompanied with a caries^ the beft way is to
let it alone J but if, on the other hand, it impedes
any a. 17c.
ril)
222 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
all over their limbs and bodies •, others a moifture, at-
tended with heat and inflammation ; the humours
being fo (harp, and violently itching, that the horfes
rub fo inceflantly, as to make themfelves raw. Some
have no eruptions at .all, but an unwholefome look,
and are dull, fluggifh, and lazy ; fome appear only
hide-bound -, others have flying pains and lamenefs,
refembling a rheumatifm : fo that in the furfeits of
horfes, we have almoft all the different fpecies of the
fcurvy, and other chronical diftempers.
" The wet furfeit (/), which is no more than a
moifl: running fcurvy, appears on different parts of
the body of a horfe, attended fometimes with great
heat and inflammation ; the neck often fwells fo in
one night's time, that great quantities of a hot briny
humour i(fue forth, which, if not allayed, will be
apt to colled on the poll or withers, and produce the
poll-evil or fiftula. This difeafe alfo frequently at-
tacks the limbs, where it proves obftinate, and hard
to cure ; and in fome horfes it fhews itfelf fpring and
fall."
Of this lafl kind feems alfo to be the difeafe which
Vegetius, or at leafl: his tranflator (w), terms the
farciminous dijiemper. In this, the horfe's fides and
hips, his genitals and efpecially his joints, together
with, frequently his whole body, are fubjed to ga-
therings and fwellings, and as fall as they are aflliag-
ed or removed, others fucceed. The horfe takes
his meat and drink as ufual, but yet grows lean.
He remarks («), that unflvilful artifts arehereina
hurry to take away blood ; but that this method is re-
pugnant to the diftemper, becaufe it leflens what
flrength the horfe has left. He allows, indeed, that
it may be of fome fervice in the beginning, to pre-
vent an increafi of the diforder ; or in the end, when
the horfe's fl:rength begins to return ; and he direds,
that the blood taken away be mixed with vinegar,
and the body rubbed with it.
(/) Cent. Fair. p. 17;. (w) Book I.e. fit- («) U. il:
The
HORSES. 225
The common praftice however is to begin with
bleeding, and then to open the body with a purging
medicine. — From what has been faid of fea-falt, lea-
water appears to be here a very proper purge, and
fhould therefore be made ufe of by thofe who are
within reach of it. They who are not, maydiflbh^e
that fait in water, by boiling them together. If it is
given warm, the water may then fufpend a fufficient
quantity, viz. two ounces ; but if it is fufFered to
cool, the fait will fubfide. Glauber fait may be given
for the fame purpofe, with the addition of two drams
of jalap to quicken it, and repeated once a week, or
as often as necefTary. The horfe lliould take daily,
either the antimony prepared with nitre, or the aethi-
ops mineral ^ and his food fhould be green grafs, ef-
pecially lucerne, if the feafon permits.
If thediforder does not give way to this method,
recourfe may be had to fome mercurral application
externally. The moft effedual in all cutaneous erup-
tions is a folution of corrofive fublimate in brandy, a
pint of which will fufpend half an ounce of the fub-
limate ; and the folution may be weakened by the
addition of water, to any degree found neceflary ;
though this will feldom be required. The flvin fhould
be quite cleared of fcurf and fcales before the foluti-
on is rubbed on the parts atfecfted. In order to fof-
ten fcabs or fcales which adhere, they fhould be well
anointed with any ointment mixed with flower of
brimflone ; for this is found to be of fingular efficacy
m all eruptions.
In a tnan^^y horfe, the fkin is generally thick and
full of wrinkles, efpecially about the mane, the loins,
andthetail; andthe litdehair thatremainsin thofe parts
' ftands almofl always flrait out, or is briftly : the ears
are commonly naked and without hair ; the eye and
eye-brows are the fame ; and when it affeds the
limbs, it gives them the flime afpeft : yet the fkin is
not raw, nor does it peel off, as in the hot inflamed
furfeit {0).
(0) Bar (let, />. 174.
Where
224 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
Where this diflemper has been caught by infedlion,
it is very eafily cured, if taken in time ; and I would
recommend the fulphur ointment as moft effectual
for that purpofe, rubbed in every day. The way of
making it is thus : Take hve fulphur, or flowers of
the fame, half a pond, crude fal ammoniac one
ounce, and hogs-lard a fufficient quantity to form in-
to an ointment. To purify the blood, give antimo-
ny finely powdered and fulphur, before rubbing, and
for fome time after ; or, in place of that, the aedii-
ops mineral.
When this diforder is owing to poverty of blood,
the diet muft be mended, and the horfe properly in-
dulged with hay and corn.
Nearly a-kin to the foregoing diforders are mallan-
ders^ gyeqfe^ f cratches^ crown-Jcab^ and fuch like com-
plaints. The remedy forthefe, fays Mr. Ofmer (p),
is warm fomentations applied to the parts ; good rub-
bing of the limbs is alfo neceffary •, and a poultice
made of rye-meal and milk is a proper application to
fore heels. Sometimes, the habit of body requires
being altered ; in which cafe, fuch of the alterative
medicines before diredled {q) as are fuited to the dif-
orders, or general temperament of the body, will be
found feryiceable. In fuperficial fores difcharging
an acrid thin ichor, the folution of fublimate applied
to the part, at the removal of the poultices, has fome-
times very good effecfts : and if the fungus has rifen
high, the knife, oracauflic, is much caller and bet-
ter than the acid fpirits ufed by farriers.
Mr. Ofiner (/) inflancesa very flrong proof of the
great efFxacy of fea-water in cafes of this kind,
when, fpeaking from his own obfervation and inqui-
ry, he afTures us, that the horfes which are conflantly
ufed at Margate, in Kent, to draw people who want
to bathe, a little way out into die fea, in a machine
contrived for that purpofe, and which are accuftomed
{p) Tnge 185. (?) ^ee p. (r) Page 1 86-
to
HORSES. 225
to (land in the fait water almoft every day, for four,
five, or fix hours tcgethcr, are fure to be cured of
whatfoever ulcers or cutaneous diforders they might
have when they firll fat about this work ; at leaft in
all fuch parts as the water can reach.
Of the Farcy.
The diflinguilliing mark of the Fai'cy is a cording
of the veins, and the appearance of fmall tumours in
feveral parts of the body.
Mr. Bartlet (j) deems this diflemper eafy of cure
when it appears on the head on!);, and efpecially
when it is feated in the cheeks and forehead -, becaufe
the blood velTels there are fmall : but he holds it to
be more difficult when it affedls the lips, the ncftrils,
the eyes, and the kernels under the jaws, and other
foft and loofe parts, efpecially if the neck-vein be-
comes corded. When the farcy begins on the out-
fide of the fhoulder or hip, the cure is feldom diffi-
cult : but when it rifes on the plate-vein, and that
vein fwells much and becomes corded, and when the
glands or kernels under the arm-pit are a^e^led, it is
hard to cure • but ftill more fo when the crural veins
in the infide of the thigh are corded, and befetv.ith
buds, as they are here called, meaning fmall tu-
mours, which afFe6l the kernels of the groin, and
the cavernous body of the yard. When the farcy
begins on the paflerns or lower limbs, it often be-
comes very uncertain of cure, unlefsa flop be put to
it in time ^ for the fwelling in thofe dependent parts
grows fo exceffively large in fome conftitutions, and
the limbs are fo much disfigured thereby with foul
fores and callous ulcerations, that fuch a hcrfe is fel-
dom afterwards fit for any thing but the meanefl
drudgery : but it is always a promifmg fign, where-
ever the farcy happens to be fituatcd, if it fpreads no
{s) Page 179.
CL farther.
2.16 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
farther. It ufually affects only one fide at a time ;
but when it paffes over to the other, it fhews great
maHgnity : when it ariies on the fpines, it is for the
moft part dangerous, and is always more fo to horfes
that are fat and full of blood, than to thofe that are
in a moderate cafe. When the farcy is ep'idemical,
as fometimes happens, itrifes on feveral parts of the
bodv at once, forms nafty foul ulcers, and makes a
profnfe running of greenifh bloody matter from both
noftrils ; and foon ends in a miferable rot." Mr. Of-
mer thinks it contagious.
M. Bourgelat (ays (/), that a decodion of the
woods, vix. guaiacum and faffafras, antimony, pow-
der of vipers, .w*th fome mercurial preparations, are
looked upon as fo many fpecifics in this difeafe. He
alfo confirms a fad related in the Philofophical Tranf-
adions, that hemlock, when green, or in powder in
the winter, will cure it, even when its bad appear-
ance outwardly feems not to leave any profped of
fuccefs. Mr. Markham recommends the roots of the
cotton broad white leaved thillle cut in fhives, and
o-iven wjth oats, as a remedy that will heal without
all fail, if it be given confhantly for three weeks.
Mr.'ofmer {ti) advifes, that " when fwellings fall
on any part, which is no uncommon fymptom in
this diforder, a poultice made with an emollient fo-
mentation, thickened with oatmeal, be applied twice
a day ; and when the ikin breaks, or buds of fprout-
\\\ct flefh appear on any part, fuch are to be touched
with a rag dipt incorrofive fpirit of fait, flrong fpi-
rit of nitre, aqua fortis, or any fuch kind of medi-
^:\Yl(-y — I cannot help thinking, that a dry cauftic,
which is more eafily kept within bounds, is a better
application.
Whatever method of cure is followed, it is ad-
vifeable to begin with bleeding, and fome cooling
{t) 'Eiole, Vctainaire, Maticre Medic ale, p. 135.
(») Page .85.
phylic,
HORSES. 227
pliyfic, giving the alterative medicine on the interme-
diate days. Long pracftice has given antimony the
preference to alirnjti every other medicine : but per-
haps the aethiops mineral is rather more efficacious, as
appears by the cafes mentioned in the article of Glan-
ders. Sulphur is alfo recommended to be added to
the antimony. Whatever mercurial preparation is
adminiftered here, it fhould be given only as an al-
terative. Turbith, which Mr. Gibfon recommends,
is fometimes very violent in it's operations, and what
is very remarkable, the dofe given makes very little
difference in the operation, as fix grains will operate
on a man as violently as thirty. A phyfical gentle-
man, worthy of credit, affures me," that the larger
dofe is fometimes the mildeft in it's operation, efpe-
cially if given in-a bolus with balfam Tolu ; and yet
though mild in it's operation, is fometimes very ef-
ficacious in the cure of venereal eruptions or ulcers.
Whether the fame may happen in the farcy, may be
a matter of future experiment. Soap, or any alkali,
decompofes it, and reduces it to the ftate of quick-
lilver.
When, by improper applications, or through' ne-
glea, a farcy has fpread, increafed, and long refift-
ed the medicines above recommended ; if frefh buds
are continually fprouting forth, while the old ones
remain foul and ill-conditioned ; if they rife on the
fpines of the back and loins ; if the horfe grows
hide-bound, and runs at the nofe ; if abfceffes are
formed in the flefhy parts between the interftices of
the large mufcles ; if his eyes look dead and lifelefs;
if he forfakeshis food, and fcours often, and his ex-
crements appear diin and of a blackifh colour; if
the plate or thigh-vein continues large and corded
after firing, and other proper applications ; thefe
fymtoms, as Mr. Bartlefvery properly remarks (;c),
denote the dlftemper to have penetrated internally'
(^) Page 197.
Qji and
228 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
and that it will degenerate into an incurable con-
fumption: it is alfomoft probable, thatthe wholemafs
of fluids is Co vitiated, as to be beyond the power of
art to remedy.— -Cuftom has improperly given the
name of water-farcy to dropfical complaints. Thefe
may be either an a/cites, or other water contained in
the belly ; an anafarca, or water contained in the
adipofe membrane all over the body j or diflindtwa-
try tumours in particular parts of the body. In cafe
the water is contained inthe belly, Vegetius(y) advifes
to tap the horfe, as is pradifed on man, and let the
water out by a pipe. After the water is drawn off,
he direds that fome grains of fait be put into the
wound, to prevents it's healing up ; and that on the
fecond or third day the pipe be again introduced, to
draw off the remaining water, till the parts are dry.
In the anafarca, the back, the fides, and often the
whole body, are inflated, as well as the belly. In
this cafe, flight fcarifications on the infide of the L^gs
and thighs, and in the fl^in of the belly, on each fide
of the fheath, will often carry off that load of water
in a fpeedy and furprifmg manner. Similar fcarifica-
tions will alfo relieve the oedematous fwellings in
particvilar parts of the body.
While thefe operations are performed externally,
internal medicines are alfo neceilary, to carry off
any remains of the diforder, both by urine and flool.
For this pur|X)fe, half an ounce of jalap well rubbed
with an ounce of nitre, and given in a ball, is very
proper, and on the intermediate days the following
decodion : Take one ounce of nitre, two drams of
fquills in powder, inner bark of elder and chamo-
mile flowers, of each a handful, and two ounces of
juniper-berries -, boil them in a quart of water, and
give a pint of this night and morning. Vegetius re-
commends radiflies with their leaves to be given as
food, becaufe they will both purge and warm the
(j>J Lib. II. c XXV.
blood.
HORSES. 229
blocd. The cure may be completed by giving fuch
tbingsas the following ball anddeco6liontoftrength-
'cn the body. Take an ounce of Jefuits bark, and
half an ounce of filings of iron, and make them into
two balls, to be taken night and morning, drinking
after each a pint of the following deco(ft;ion. Take
gentian and zedoary of each half an ounce, chamo-
mile flowers and centuary, of ^ach an handful, of
Juniper-berries pounded, a handful ; boil them in a
quantity of water fuflicient to yield a quart of ftrain-
ed liquor.
Vegetius (z) fpeaks of the Tympany as a difeafe
incident to horfes. The belly of the animal fwells
like that of one afFedled with thedropfy, andhisneck
becomes fliiffer than ufual; but neither his tefticlesnor
his legs fwell. He advifes, to anoint the belly with
hot afhes and melted fuet, to fwathe the horfe with
bandages, and to give him warm drinks in wine and
oil.
SEC T.-VIII.
Of Diforders of the Feet.
LAMENESS is often brought on horfes by a falfe
ftep, which, when negledted, renders the liga-
ments of the nut-bone ufelefs, and the cartilages be-
comeofl'ified. An inflammation from this caiife is dif-
tinguifhed by a fwelling on the coronet, and a great
pain when the finger is pulhed againft it.
In this cafe, the befl: way is to pare the outer fide
till it becomes thin and flexible, to pare alfo the crufl:
or the hoof down as low as poflible, fo that every
part be thin, even until the foot bleeds, and then
(z) Lib. III. c. xxvii.
CL3 to
z^o A TREATISE on CATTLE,
to life emollient fomentations and poultices round
the foot and coronet, by which means the inflamed
parts will be relieved, when the thicknefs and ftric-
ture of the crufl has been taken away.
This fhews how rightly fportfmen adl, when, to
prevent the inflammation, and guard againfl: the in-
duration and enlargement of the ligamentous parts,
and of the integuments of the fetlock joint, the con-
fequence of repeating violence, they caufe the joints
of the horfe, after hard riding, to be well fomented
with flannels dipt in warm water, or a decodion of
emollient herbs, and then fome warm flannel cloths
or rollers to be moderately bound thereon for the en-
fuing night, and afterwards to be treated as direct-
ed for ftrains.
When any extraneous body, fuch as a nail, thorn
gravel, &c. has pafled into a horfe's foot, it fhould
be got out as foon as poflible, and the foot fhould
then be covered with a poultice or other mild appli-
cation : but if it be fufped;ed, from the degree of
pain, or difcharge of matter, that any thing remains
behind, the fole fhould be pared as thin as poflible,
and the hole fhould be enlarged , that it may be drawn
out with a pair of pificers or be difcharged by di-
geftion. If this fhould not fucceed, but the lame-
nefs continues, with a difcharge of thin, bloody, or
ftinking matter, the wound muft be opened to the
bottom, and then drefled with a warm digeftiv?.
The fame directions fhould be followed when the
foot has been pricked in fhoeing.
If thenailpenetratstothejoint of the foot, where
matter may be formed, and by it's long continuance
putrify, fo as to erode the cartilages of the joint, the
cafe is incurable: and fo it likewife is if the nail
has pafled up to the nut-bone, becaufe this little bone
cannot exfoliate, and the cartilaginous part of it is
deftroyed the moment it is injured.
If any extraneous body has brought on great in-
flammation, fo that afuppuration mufl: enfue, the fole
mould
HORSES. zsi
riiould be fo far opened as to give free vent to the
matter ; or, if the pain increafes, the fole mud be
drawn ; but this iliould never be without manifefl
neceflity.
hfavai' cracky as it is called, is a cleft on the out-
fide of the hoof. If it remains a ftraight line down-
wards, and penetrates through the boney part of the
hoof, it is difficult to cure ; but if it paffes through
the ligament that unites the hoof with the coronet, it
is apt to caufe a fuppuration under the hoof, which is
very dangerous. When the crack only penetrates
the hoof, without touching the ligament, it may ea-
fily be cured, by rafping the edges fmooth, and then
applying a mild digeftive : but if there is a hollow
under the hoof, the hoof mull be rafped away as far
as the hollow reaches on all fides.
A quittor is an abfcefs formed between the hair
and the hoof, ufually on the infide quarter of a
horfe's foot. It often arifes from treads or bruifes,
or from gravel lodged about the coronet. If it is fu-
periidal, it is eafily cured : but if the matter forms
itfelf a lodgment under the hoof, part of the hoof mufl
4)e taken away. If the quarter of the hoof is taken
aw^ay, the foot feldom gets quite found again. If,
by the lodgment of the matter, the coffin or foot-
bone is injured, the opening muft be enlarged, and
the flelh deftroyed, fo that the bone may exfoliate,
as before direcficd in the cure of ulcers with caries.
During the cure, the foot fliould be kept very eafy
by foft applications ; and care fhould be taken not
to fuffer the rifing of proud flefh, becaufe this would
prevent a firm and found healing.
Mr. Ofmer {d) diredls, as -a proper method of
proceeding when the crifisof a fever falls on the feet,
on this or any other occafion, to cut them off round
and fhort at the toe, till the blood appears, and with
a drawing-knife to fcore the hoof all round longitu-
(«) Page 1 60.
0^4 dinally,
232 A TREATISE on CATTLE,
dinally, at proper diftances, quite to the quick, be-
ginning a little below the coronary ring, and conti-
nuing on to the end of the foot or toe ■ becaufe by
this means the new hoof will be the more at liberty
to pufh itfelf out, and the matter to be difcharged.
The parts fhould be drelTed with fome uncftuous me-
dicine, and the whole foot wrapped up with an emol-
lient poultice. By thefe means, he fays, the feet
will often become as good and as found as ever.
He remarks farther. on this method of fcoring the
foot longitudinally, that it is of late come much into
practice, with an intent to cure lamenefsarifmg from
the con traded form of the foot •, and that this, to-
gether with the horfe's being turned to g'rafs, does in
fact expand the foot for a time ; but that when thefe
fcorings are quite grown out, and the horfe is taken
to houfe, the foot fo treated foon returns again to its
primitive natural contracted ftate, and he becomes
as lame as he was before.
When, in confequence of great inflammation,
tending to fuppuration, it is abfolutely neceflary to
draw the folc, as is «fometimes the cafe, the foot
fhould be fuffered to bleed : or if the fole be fo loof-^
ened by an impoflhumation as to fall off from the
bone, in either of thefe cafes, on the removal of the
hoof, a boot of leather, with a ftrong fole, ihould be
laced about the paftern, bolder ing the foot with foft
flax, that the tread may be eafy. The fungus is to
be kept down, and the cure to be compleated as al-
ready direded.
SECT.
HORSES. 233
E C T. IX.
Of Feii'ymous Bites.
I CANNOT here do better than quote what may
relate to this fubjetl, from the learned Dr. Mead's
Treatife on die bite of a rnaddog {a).
" I am of opinion, fays that great phyfician, that
the wound lliould be enlarged, and drefTed with
black bafilicon, adding thereto a fmall quantity of
red precipitate as a digeftive ; for it may be of ad-
vantage to have a drain continued from the part.
'" There are two or three- internal remedies recom-
mended I think upon rational grounds. The firft is,
the afhes of the river craw-fifh. Thefe were pre-
pared by burning the fifh alive upon a copper-plate,
with a fire made of the cuttings of twigs of the
white briony. A large fpoonful or two of the calciti-
ed powder was given every day for forty days toge-
ther, eidier alone, or mixed with a fmall portion of
gentian root and frankincenfe.
" Another medicine is the fponge of the dog-rofe,
which is celebrated as an antidote againfl this and
other animal poifons. The plant alyiTum, or mad-
v/ort, had its name given it by the antients, from its
great efficacy againft this madncfs. To them may
be added garlic, agrimony, and oxylapathum.
" Now it is remarkable that all thefe remedies are
powerful diuretics, and the fureft remedies in all ages
againft this venom have been fuch as provoke a great
difcharge by urine. Refledting upon this, I thought
it might be right to give to the public acourfe eafily
to be purfued, which, by preventing the fever for a
\/i) 7be Medical fVorks of Dr. RieiardMead, \to edit. 1762,/-. 86.
long
234 A TREATISE on CATTLE,
long time after the bite, and conftantly provoking
this evacuation, might fecure the patient from dan-
ger. The method is this :
" Let the patient [we will here fuppofe the horfe}
be blooded plentifully. Take of the herb a(h-co-
loured ground liverwort (lichen cinereus terrefiris)
cleaned, dried, and powdered, two ounces (li^lf an
ounce for a man), and of black pepper powdered an
ounce ; mix thefe well together, and divide the pow-
der into four dofes, one of which muft be taken every
morning fafting, for four mornings fuccelTively, in
half a pint of cow's milk warm. After thefe four
dofes are taken, the horfe muft be plunged into cold
water every morning fafting for a month. After this
he muft be put in three times a week for a fortnight
longer. Salt-water, where it can be conveniently
come at, is preferred for the purpofe of bathing.*'
Th'e following mercurial method having been
found fuccefsful both in dogs and men, Mr. Bart-
let, with very great propriety, recommends it for
horfes, and indeed thinks it more to be depended on
than moft others. Dr. James's account of it to
the Royal Society, from which Mr. Bartlet's is bor-
rowed, is to the following eflfedl (a).
" About Michaelmas 1731, Mr. Floyer, of
Hampfhire, complained to Dr. James, that he was
afraid of a madnefs among his fox-hounds ; for that
morning one had run mad in his kennel : upon
which the Do6lor told him, he had believed that mer-
cury would, if tried^ prove the beft remedy againft
this infedion. Mr. Floyer neglecfted this advice till
the February following ; and in the mean time tri-
ed the medicine in Bates's Difpenfary, commonly
known by the name of the pewter-medicine, as alfo
every thing elfe that was recommended to him by
other fportfmen, but to no purf>ofe ; for fome of his
hounds ran mad almoft every day after hunting.
(«) Bartletf p. 318, anj Philojaphical Tranfadionsy No.
Upon
HORSES. 235
l-^Tpon this he took his hounds to the Tea, and had
every one of them dipt into tlie fait water; and at
his return he carried his dogs to another gentleman's
kennel, fix miles diftant From his own. Yet not-
withftanding this precaution, he loft fix or kxnn
couple uf dogs in a fortnight's time. Ac length, in
February, Mr. Floyer tried the experiment which
tne Dodorhad recommended, upon two hounds that
were mad, and both very far gone. They refufcd
food of all forts, particularly fluids. Havered much,
and had all the. fymptoms of a hydrophobia to a
great degree : that night he gave to each of tiie two
<^ogs twelve grains of turpeth mineral, which vomit-
ed and purged them gently : twenty-four hours af-
ter this, he gave to each of them twenty-four grains,
and after the fame interval, he gave forty-eight more
to each : the dogs falivated very much, and foon
after lapped warm milk : at the end of twenty-four
hours more, he repeated to one dog twenty. four
grains more, and omitted it to the other ; the dog
that took this laft dofe, lay upon the ground, fali-
vated extremely, was in great agonies, and had all
the fymptoms of a falivation raifed too high ; but
got through it : the other relapfed and died.
" To all the reft of the pack he gave feven grains
of turpeth for the firft dofe, twelve for the fecond
dofe, at twenty-four hours diftance, which was re-
peated every other day for fome little time. The
method was repealed at the two or three fucceeding
fulls and changes of the moon : from this time he
loft not anothel" hound ; and though feveral after-
wards were bit by ftrange dogs, the turpeth alwa) s
prevented any ill confequences.
" The Doctor and his friends tried the fame
thing upon a great many dogs, and it never failed
in any one inftance ; though dogs bit at the fame
time, and by the fame dogs, ran mad, after moft
other medicines had been tried." The fame me-
thod
5^6 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
thod may very properly, as Mr. Bartlet obferves,
be praftifed in giving this medicine to a horfe, on-
ly increafmg the quantity to two fcruples, or half a
drachm each dofe.
The following recipe has long been in great ef-
teem, and is thought by fome to be an infalliable
cure for the bite of a mad dog. Indeed it cannot
but be of fervice in all venomous bites.
" Take fix ounces of rue ; Venice treacle, gar-
lic, and tin fcraped, of each four ounces ; boil them
in two quarts of ale over a gentle fire to the confiynp-
tion of hdf ; drain the liquor off from the ingredi-
ents, and give the horfe four or five ounces of it
every morning fafling."
The ingredients may be beaten together in a
mortar, and applied daily to the wound as a poul-
tice.
Horfes, when feeding or lying down, may of-
fend poifonous creatures, and are therefore liable to
be bit or flung by them. Of thefe the viper is the
mofl frequent in this country, and that whofe bite
is the moft dangerous. Whatever will cure it's bite
will therefore cure any lefs venomous one. For this
reafon, I fhall here again take Dr. Mead for my
guide. That excellent phyfician lays great flrefson
fucking the wound ; but that cannot well be done
in a horfe. The cupping-glafs feems the next fuc-
cedaneum ; though the Dodor feems to hint that
the fpittle has fome fhare in the cure ; and remarks,
that whoever fucks the wound, ought to was his
mouth well before-hand with warm oil, and hold
fome of this in his mouth while the fudion is per-
forming, to prevent any inflammation of the lips and
tongue by the heat of thepoifon.
" To confirm this pradlice," continues the Doc-
tor, " I have been affured by an ingenious furgeon,
who lived In Virginia, that the Indians there cure
the bite of the rattle- fnakc by fucking the wound,
and taking immediately a large quantity of a decoc-
tion
HORSES. 257
tion of Seneca rattle-fnake root, vvhicli vomits plen-
tifully, and laying to the part the fame root chewed.
'' As to any other external management, I think
it can avail but little ^ fince it cannot prevent the
fudden communication of the poifon to the nerves.
Burning the part with a hot iron is of no ufe.
Dry fait upon the wound, recommended by Celfus,
promifes lomevyhat more ; and not much more is to
be faidof the remedy of our viper-catchers, in which
they place fo much confidence, as to be no
more afraid of a bite than of a common puncture.
This is no other than the exputipa viperina (fat of vi-
pers) rubbed into the wound ;," — of the good efFeds
of which he, however, then gives foine inftances.
Some writers conclude, that the efficacy of this
application arifesonly from it's unctuous quality, and
that therefore oil w ill have the effedt. I do not know
that this has yet been fufficiently afcertained : but
when there is no viper's fat at hand, it is furely
worth trial.
Dr. Mead adds (t), that if the patient [read here
the horfe] be faintand otherwife difordered, hefhould
be wrapped up warm, and made to take fome cor-
dial medicines, particularly about an ounce of Ra-
leigh's confedion, and a drachm of fait of vipers,
or for want of this, of fait of • hartfliorn, given in
warm wine. A very good remedy in this cafe like-
wife IS, as Mr. Bartlet advifes (r/j, where it can be
afforded for a horfe, half an ounce of muik, and as
much cinnabar, fo ftrongly recommended in bites
of poifonous animals.
Vegaius {e) gives the followirg fign^ of a horfe's
having been wounded by a poifonous animal. He
loaths his food, drags his feet, and when brougln
forth, he lies or falls dov.n at every ftep, a corrupt-
ed matter flows from his noftrils, there is a weit^hr
and heavinefs in his head, fo that he hangs it down
{c) Page ^6. [d) Page 317, {e) Lib. III. c. Ixxvu.
to
238 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
to the ground, and the ftrength of his whole body
fails, corrupted matter ilTues out of the wound, and
if the viper be pregnant, the horfe's whole body
breaks out, and fv/ells fo as to be like to burft.
The ufe of oil externally, in cafes of this kind,
was well known to the antients, and certainly is very
right.
Horfes, in drinking, fometimes fyv^allow leeches,
which may faften on the fauces, or in the aefopha-
gus, fo as to be out of reach ; and in this cafe it is
advifed to pour warm oil down the throat, as a means
of making them quit their hold. They may alfo-
fwallow fpiders in their hay, or other venomous crea-
tures, hen's dung, &:c. which, Vegetius fays (/),
will foon occafion great pain in the inward parts, an
inflammation of the belly, a tumbling with violent
gripes, and a harfh cough. To remedy this, he di-
re6ls, to bruife two ounces of parfley-feed, and mix
it with a pint of old wine and half a pint of honey,
to be poured down the horfe's throat ; afterwards
w^alking him gently about till this moves his belly.
If the violence of the pain fhould occafion a fwelling
in any part of the body, or a ftiffnefs of the joints
and limbs, take a pound of bay-berries, half a pound
of nitre, a quart of vinegar, and apint of oil, mix
and warm them upon the fire, and anoint him with
it in a warm place, rubbing him heartily againft the
hair.' This repeated for three days, will, by making
him fweat, certainly cure him, fays Vegetius.
(/) Lib. III. c. Ixxxv.
SECT.
[" HORSES. 239
SECT. X-
0/ the Arthritu.
VEGETllTS 0?) gives the following defcription
of a difeafe in horfes fimilar to the rheumatifm
in men. The horfe will be lame in his joints, as if
he had received fome injury on them, with this diffe-
rence, that a hurt is fixed to a place, but in this ail-
ment he will be lame fometimes in his fore, and fome-
times in his hind-feet, the coronets and knees will be
fometimes fwelled, or the fkin be bound filil to the
bones, the fpine becomes fliff, his hair flands on end,
and he grows carelefs of his food.
He orders, " that blood be taken away from the
neck, then thoroughly mixed with very fharp vine-
gar, and the horfe's body, efpecially where the pain
is, to be well rubbed therewith. Blood fhould alfo
be taken from the veins neareft to the parts affedled,
and this, after being mixed with vinegar, cummin-
feed, fait, &c. is alfo to be nibbed wherever there
appears a tumour. Then take centuary, worm-
wood, fow-fennel, mother of thyme, betony, faxi- '
frage, round birthwort, and faggapen, of each equal
quantities, which reduce to powder. Give a large
fpoonful of the powder every • day in a draught of
warm water, if the horfe is feverifh, or in a pint of
Vvine if he is free from a fever."
He likewife defcribes a diftemper which he thinks
analagous to i\\q. ^^out m man {b). "" The horfe, in
this cafe, can neither ftand nor walk, and if he is
compelled to move, he hobbles, and often throws
himfelf down. By reafon of this pain he does not
digeft his food, and therefore becomes ill-favoured ;
{a) Lib. L c. It. b. xiii. [b) Lib. //. r. iHi.
his
240 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
his body will be hot, his veins fwelled, his yard hang-
ing down, and his dUng will ftick to his feet, bc-
caufe of his too great heat. He orders repeated
bleedings in fmall quantities, and gentle exercife in
a dry place till the horfe fweats, and rubbing. Let
his drink be warm water mixed with powdered nitre
and wheat-meal : let him be purged, to carry off die
noxious humours ; and give him green grafs for his
food, or, if this be wanting, hay fprinkled with ni-
tre. Give him alfo an infufion of the flower of frank-
incenfe in wine, half a pint for three mornings run-
ning. If none of thefe things are of benefit to him,
let him be gelded, and he will be free from his difr-
temper, for the gout feldom afflids eunuchs."
•
SECT. XI.
Of Gelding.
I Place this operation here, beeaufe the performing
of it generally falls to the lot of the farrier or
horfe-dodor. It is attended with very little danger
whilfl: horfes are young. The legs of the creature
intended to be caftrated are tied with ropes, he is
then thrown on his back, and the fcrotum, or purfe,
is opened lengthvvife with an incifion-knife, fo that
the fpermatic cord or veffels are laid bare. The tef-
ticles being then jurned out, a thread well waxed,
and prelTed a little flattifh, that it may not cut
through, is tied round the fpermatic cord, and the
te.fticle is cutoff, leaving about a quarter of an inch
of the cord below the ligature. The whole is then
dreffed up with dry lint, and over all is put a large
pledget of tow covered with any ointment, that the
fcrotum may remain in a foft and eafy fituation. It
no accident happens, it need not be looked at till the
third
H O R S E- S. 241
third or fourth day, when the lore will be digefled,
arid it IhoLild then be dreflcd every day till the liga-
ture falls o(f\ after uhich it is t(3 be cured as a com-
mon wound. In old ftallions this operation is fome-
times attended with inflammation, &:c, in which cafe
ii is to be treated as before direc\cd for an inflamma-
tory wound. 'Twere needlefs to obferve, that the
horfe Ihould be kept on a cooling diet during the
whole of this time.
Tlie mofl proper feafons for performing this ope-
ration are fpring and autumn ; great heat and great
cold being equally unfavourable : and with regard to
age, in fome countries horfes are caflirated when they
are not above a year, or eighteen months old, or as
foonas the tefticles are clearly difcernible on the out-
fide ; but the mod general pradice is, not to caftrate
tiiem till they are two, or even three years old, and
this fome think the mofl: judicious way, becaufe the
later they are caftrated, the more they retain of the
mafculine qualities ; for it is certain that this opera-
tion diminilhesconfiderabiy their flirength, fpirit, and
courage ; but on the other hand they derive from it
mildnefs, docility, and tradlablenefs.
The Perfians, Arabians, and feveral other nations
of the Eaft, never cafbrate their horfes : but geldings
are as common in China as they are in Europe.
SECT. XII.
Of Shoeing.
THIS being alfo a part of the farrier's bufmefs,
it may not be improper to obferve here, that,
as the only intention in fhoeing horfes is to add
ftrength to the hoof, and to prevent its being worn
av.ay by flit-nes, grit, ^c. efpecially upon hard
R roads.
242 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
roads, it is fufficient that the fhoe be wide enough
to defend the horny part, or rim of the hoof, beyond
which it fhoiild not projetft, and to admit of being
fallened on firmly with proper nails. By this means
there being no hollow between the Ihoeand the hoof,
the horfe will be lefs apt to pick up ftones than
he is with the broad fhoes generally ufed. Care
fhould alfo be taken not to pare away any more of
the hoof than what is ragged and damaged, and
confequently always to leave a fufficient breadth for
the nails to go into without pricking the quick ; an
accident by which numbers of horfes are lamed, and
fometimes inflammations are brought on, which fe-
parate the whole hoof from the foot, juft as a whit-
low will take the nail off from a finger or toe. For
thefe inftrudions I am indebted to an eminent officer
of our cavalry, all the horfes of whofe regiment are
(hod upon the above principles.
BOOK II.
Of asses.
FAR from deferving the contempt in which he is
generally held, the Afs is, in fad, one of the
moll necefTary animals about a farm-houfe : he cofls
hardly any thing to keep, and does a great deal of
work, fuch as carrying corn to the mill, provifions
to the market, or to labourers in tiie field, with num-
berlefs other ufeful offices ; for, in proportion to his
fize, he will carry a heavier load than perhaps any
other animal. In fome countries too he is made to
till the ground where the foil is light, to draw a cart,
and even to ferve inftead of a horfe for riding pofl :
nor
ASSES. 243
nor is there any more eafy going, or furer-footed
creature. The milk of the female is an excellent
med'cine to man, particularly in confumptive and
gouty cafes ; and the fkin of tjiefe animals is rendered
ferviceable and profitable, after they are dead ; for
of it, being very hard and \'6ry elaftic, are made
drums, fieves, &;c. The merit of the afs's-fkin
pocket-books is well known ; and in many parts the
peafants make good ftrong fhoes of the tanned fkin
of the afs's back. It it alfo with the hinder part of
the afs's fl-cin that the Orientals make the Sa^ri (a)^
which we call Shagreen t. The dung of aifes is an
excellent manure for flrong or moift lands.
Is it then, as M, de Buffon compaflionately afks
on this occafion (c), that men extend their contempt
of thofe who ferve them too well and too cheaply,
even to animals .? The horfe, continues he, is trained
up, great care is taken of him, he is inftruded and
cxercifed ; whilfh the poor afs, left to the brutality
of themeaneftfervantandthe wantonnefs of children,
inftead of improving, cannot but be a lofer by his
education. Moft certainly, if he had not a large
fund of good qualities, the manner in which he is
treated would be fufficient to exhauft them all. He
is the fport, the butt, the drudge of clowns, who,
without the leafl thought or concern, drive him along
with a cudgel, beating, over-loading, and tiring
him. It is not remembered, that the afs would be,
both in himfelf and for us, the moft ufeful, the mofl
beautiful, and moft diftinguifhed of animals, if there
were no horfe in the world : he isthefecond, inftead
of being the firft, and for that alone he is looked up-
on as nothing : it is the- comparifon that degrades
him : he is confidercd, he is judged of, not in him-
{a) See 7he,r thither by the Spaniards, and
turned loofe in the l:.rge iflanis, and on the continent, have in-
creafL'd fo cunfidtr-ibly, that in fcveral places wild afles are feen
in troops, and they Are taken in toils, like v.'ild horfes.
roads
25© A TREATISE on CATTLE,
roads in general, and the great plenty we have of
all forts of horfes, may indeed, in fome meafure
account for our negleft of affes : but do we not carry
that neglecft too far ? A little attention might per-
haps difcover purpofes for which thefe animals are pe-
culiarly proper ; fuch as their travelling fafelv over
high and ftony mountains, palling fecurely through
narrow winding paths in mines, and in the working
of machines, for which they feem perfedlly qualified
by their natural fteadinefs.
The afs, which like the horfe, requires three or
four years to attain its full growth, lives alfo, like
that animal, twenty-five or thirty years : but the fe-
males are generally faid to be longer lived than the
males : a confequence, perhaps, of their being a
little more tenderly ufed, on account of their being
often pregnant ; whereas the males are worked and
beaten without intermlffion.
Affes fleep lefs than horfes -, and if ever they lie
down to fleep, it is only when they are quite fpent
with labour. The flallion afs alfo lafts longer than
the ftallion horfe : his eagernefs feem to increafe with
his age ; and in general the health of this animal is
much more fteady and confirmed than that of the
horfe. He is far more hardy, and fubjedl to a much
lefs number of difeafes. Even the antients mention
few, except the glanders, and this is very rare. As
to the refl, the difeafes of, thefe animals are to be
treated in the fame manner as thofe of horfes.
BOOK
MULES. 251
BOOK III.
OF MULES.
THE Mule is a bead of burden, begot by a
male afs and a mare, or by a ftallion horfe
and a female afs. There are both male and female
mules, and both of them are very eager for copulati-
on ; but they do not breed, at leaft, in climates
like this. Some think it is becaufe they proceed from
two different fpecies of animals : but others fay po-
fitivcly that they do breed in hot countries*. In
France, where many mules are bred, they are not
fuffered to couple, becaufe that renders them vicious
and fpiteful.
Mules
* All animals which owe their origin to creatures of different
fpecies are generally termed mules, and accounted barren : but,
though it does not appear that mules proceeding from the afs
and mare, or froai a ftallion-horfe with a flie-afs , produce an/
thing either among themfelves, or with thofe from whom they
are derived ; yet, as M. de Buffon obferves, in his Natural His-
tory of the Goat, this opinion is perhaps ill-founded : for the
antients pofitively aflert that the mule is able to procreate at
feven years, and that he does adlually procreate with the
mare (a). They alfo tell us, that a mule is capable of concep-
tion, though it never brings it's fruit to maturity fl^J. Thefe
things, which throv/ a veil of darknefs over the real diftinc-
tion between animals and the theory of generation, iliould
therefore either be confuted or confirmed. Befides, had we
ever fo clear a knowledge of all the fpecies of animals around us,
yet we know not what a mixture between themfelves, or with
(i) Mulus feptennis implsre poteft^ el jam cum equa conjundut himum pro-
crea-vit. Arift. Hift. Animal. Lib. VI. cap. xxiv.
(b) Itaqut concipere quidem aliquando mula pstefl, quod jam faHum ejl ;
fed enutrire atque infinem ptrJucere nin ftteji. Mas gen-rare interdum pt-
ifft. Arift. de Geneiat. Animjl. Lib. II. CBp. vi.
foreign
'D-
A TREATISE on CATTLE.
Mules live a long while, often above thirty years;
they are very healtliy, and partake of the qualities
of the animals from which, they proceed -, that is to
fay, they have theftreiigth of the horfeand thehardinefs
of the afs^ They feem born f«.:r carrying heavy bur-
thens, for carrying them gently, and for lafting a
longtime. They hardly e\^er flumble : their (ci\k
of fmelling is uncommonly quick : they are very
fantaftical, and apt to kick, and their obftinacy is
become proverbial. We know not of any wild
ones.
In Spain, rdmoft all the carriages are drawn by
mules j they carry the baggage and equipages of
princes and officers, and are of excellent ferxice par-
ticularly in mountainous places. Traders and mil-
lers ufe them ther^ to carry their merchandize and
their corn ; they are even made to plov/ the
ground, and to thrafh the corn by treading it out.
They are alfo much ufed in Italy ; and in Auverg-
ne they are employed for every thing that is ufually
done elfwhere by horfes and oxen, of v/hich there
are but few in that province of France. They form
a part of the parade of great perfonages abroad when
they make their public entries ^ and it is not long fince
foreign animals would produce. V/e are, contjnui^s this judi-
cious writer, but little acquainted with the jumar, thnt i<^,
the prouce of the cow and the afs, or the mare and the bull.
We know not whether the zebra would not copulate with the
horfe or the afs : whether the thick-tailed creature known by
the name of the Barbar-y ram would not produce with cur ewe:
whether the chamois be not a fpecies of wild goat ; whether it
would not with our goat form fome intermediate breed : whe-
ther monkies differ in real fpecies, or whether, like dogs, they
are all of one and the fame fpecies, but varied by a number
of different breeds ; whether the dog can produce with the
fox and the wolf ; whether the ftag produces with the cow,
the hind with the buck, &c. Our ignorance, with regard
to all thefe fads, is almoft invincible ; the experiments by
which alone they can be decided, requiring more time, and
more attention and §xpence, than the li!e and fovlune of a
common perfon v.ill admit of.
the
M U L^ E S. -s^o
tlie mngiflmtcs in France rode upon mules to their
courts of jultice, and ph) ficians to vifit their patients.
The Fltniings ufed formerly to breed from their larga
fized marcs con fiderable numbers of very (lately mules,
fomc of tlicm fixteen andfome feventecn hands high,
and tliey were ver) ferviceable as fiimpter-mules in
ilie army : Ijnt fince the Low-Countries have ceafed
lo bear iht Spanilh >oke, they breed fewer mules,
Tiiey were alfo much more common in this country
in former times than they are at prefent, being often
brought over hither in the days of popery "by the Itali-
an prelates. They continued longell; here in the fer-
\ ice of millers, and are yet in ufe among them in
fome places, on account of the great loads they are
able to carry. We alfo fend fome to our American
colonies, where they are much ufed and efteemed,
particularly in the iflands. Poitou, and the Mire-
balais in France flill continue to breed great num-
bers of mules, but Auvergne yet more, and thefe
laft are moft efteemed *.
To have handfcme and good mules, the ftallion-
r.fs fhould be in his full vigour, and therefore above
three years old, and not more than ten -, he fhould
he of a good breed ; for in the ftuds of mules,
which are not uncommon in foreign countries, a flal-
lion-afr- of a good breed is worth fixty or feventy
pounds, whereas a middling one will fetch above
eleven or twelve : he fhould be well made, that is
lo fay, largefized, with a flout thick neck, flrongand
* The Spaniards have long had fuch a pred!le£lion for
mules, thai it raifv.d the piice of ilie-alTes to the high degree
before uicntiond (n. 274), ana produced an abfolute pro-
hibi'ion and expurla.ion. It has alfo Icflcned their regard and
attention to horfes ; infoiv.uch that the ftuds in Audalufu,
formerly eileerr.ed the finelt in Europe, have loll their cre-
: the breed,
provided fhe be paft her fecond year.
A gentleman will choofe the cow that gives the
beft milk, in preference to one which yields a larger
quantity of lefs good ; whereas the hitter will an-
fwer beft to the farmer, for fattening calves, lambs,
and his M^hole breed of fwimr. Tlv.^ b\illgck of a
moderate
HORNED CATTLE. 269
moderate fize will alfo he preferred by the gentleman,
for beef for his table, becaufe its flefh is better relifh-
ed, and finer grained ■, and the larger fize may be
more prized by the farmer, becaufe they fetch more
monev at market, their flefh being mod efteemed
for faking, efpecially for naval ufe -, for it is found
to flirink lefs, and to be lefs preyed on by the fait,
tlian the beef of fmaller cattle.
CHAP.
270 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
CHAP. III.
Of Feeding^ Faitening (ind I'aiding of Cattle. .
TH E ox eats faft, and takes in a fhort time a!i
the noiirifhmcnt he wants, after which lie cea-
fes to eat, and lies down to chew the cud ; whereas
the horfe feeds both day and night, flowly, but al- .
moft incefifandy. This difference in their manner of
feeding proceeds from the different make of their
ftomachs : for the ox, whofe two firfl ftomachs
form but one very capacious bag, can eafily fw al-
low fo large a quantity of herbage as foon to fill his
maw, and that done, he chews the cud afterwards,
and digefts it at leifure ; whilft the horfe, having
but a fmall ftomach, can put into it only a fmall
quantity of grafs, and continue to replenifh it as the
food fmks and paffes into the inteftines, where the
decompofition of the aliments is chiefly performed ;
and accordingly, upon infpedion of thefe parts both
in the ox and tht horfe, and the fucceOive effed of
digeftion, particularly the decompofition of hay, M.
de Buffon faw, {a) that, in the ox, on it's leaving
that part of the maw which forms the fecond flo-
mach, it is reduced, to a kind of green pafte, like
fpinage minced and boiled ; that it retains this ap-
pearance in the folds of the third ftomach ; that the
decompofition is completed in the fourdi ftomach;
and that what palTes into the inteftines is only the
hufks and recrements : whereas in the horfe, he ob-
ferved, that this decompofition is hardly vifible, ei-
ther in the ftomach or firft inteftines, where it be-
(a) Hifloire NatiircUe ilii Bseiif.
comes
HORNED CATTLE. 271
comes only more fupple and flexible, having becrt
macerated and penetrated by the adive liquor with
which it is furrounded ; and that it reaches the coe-
cum and colon without any great alteration ^ that it
Is in thefe two inteftines, whofe enormous capacity
anlwers to the maw in ruminating animals, that the
decompofition of a horfe's aliment is chiefly per-
formed ; and that this decompofition is never fo per-
fect as that in the fourth flomach of the ox.
From thefe obfervations, and the bare infpedlion
of the parts, it is eafy to conceive, how rumination
is performed, and why the horfe neither ruminates
nor vomits ; whereas the ox, and all the horned cat-
tle, with other animals which have feveral ftomachs,
feem. to digeft the grafs only by rumination, which
is nothing more than vomiting v/ithout effort, occa-
fioned by the re-adion of the firft ftomach on the
aliments it contains. The ox fills his two firfb fl:o-
maclis (the fecond being only a part of the firft^,
and the membrane thus extended re-adls on the grafs
within it, v/hich has been but very little chewed, and
it's bulk increafed by fermentation. Were the ali-
ment liquid, this contracted force would make it
pafs into the third ftomach, which communicates
with the other only by a narrow dud, the orifice of
which is fituated at the upper part of the firfl:, and
but little belov/ the sefopliagus ; fo that no dry ali-
ment can pafs through this dud, or at leafl: none but
the more fluid part of if. Thus the drier parts ne-
cefTarily afcend through the gefophagus, whofe ori-
fice is larger than that of the dud into the mouth.
Here the animal chews them again, macerates, and
once more impregnates them v/ith it's fall va ; and
thus by degrees renders the aliment m^ore fluid, till it
is reduced to a pafte of a proper liquidity to pafs
through the dud which communicates with the third
ftomach : and here again it undergoes another ma-
ceration^ before it pafl^es into the fourth fl:omach,
where
272 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
where the decompofition of the food is compleated,
by being reduced to a perfedl mucilage.
What confirms the truth of this explanation is,
that while thefe animals fuck, or are fed v/ith milk
and other fluid ahments, they do not chew the cud ;
and that they chew the cud much more in winter,
and when fed with drv food, than in fummer, when
the grafs is fucculent and tender. In the horfe, on.
the contrary, the fi:omach is very fmall, the orifice
of the gefophagus very narrow, and the paifage from
the ftcmach to the intefhincs, or pylorus, very wide,
which alone would render rumination im.pradiicable ;
for the food contained in this fmall ftomach, though
perhaps more ftrongly comprelTed than in the large
flomachof the ox, cannot re-afcend, becaufe it may
fo eafily defcend through the capacious orifice of the
pylorus. It is therefore ov/ing to this general diffe-
rence in the conformation of the parts, that the ox
ruminates and the horfe cannot : but there is another
particular formation in the horfe, which renders him
not only unable to ruminate, that is, to vomit with-
out effort, but even hinders him from vomiting at all,
though he fhould make the ftrongeft efforts fo to
do ; and this is, that the du6l of the aefophagus en-
ters fo obliquely into the horfe's ftomach, that in-
ftead of opening by the convulfive motions of the
ffomach, it becomes contracted . Though this dif-
ference, like all the other differences of conformati-
on obfervable in the bodies of animals, depends on
nature when conftant and unvaried ; yet, in the
growth, and efpecially in the foft parts, there are
differences apparently conftant, which however may,
and adlually do, vary by circumftances : for in-
ftance, the capacity of the ox's maw is not wholly
derived from nature ^ it is not fuch by it's primitive
conformation, but is gradually rendered fo by the
large bulk of the aliments put into it ; for in a
young calf,- or even in one that is older, if the ani-
mal has fed only on milk, and never on herbage, the
. mav."
HORNED CATTLE. 273
maw is much fmaller in proportion than in the ox.
The very great capacity of the maw therefore pro-
ceeds from the extenfion occafioned by the large bulk
of aliments put into it at one time ; as M. de Buf-«
fon has clearly proved by the following experiment
(/>), He caufed two calves of the fame age, and
weaned at the fimie time, to be fed, one with bread
and the other with grals; and at the expiration of a
year, on opening them, the pnaw of the calf which had
lived on grafsand herbage was become much larger
than the maw of that which had been fed with
bread. -I have been the more particular in the
above account of the manner in which ruminating
animals are nourifhed, and of the caufes why the
horfe can neither ruminate nor vomit, becaufeit
may afford forae fatisfadtion to thofe who might not
perhaps, otherwife be able readily to afign a reafon for
their different ways of feeding.
A general caution proper to be attended to on this
occafion, is, that great care fhould be taken not to
over-flock a pafture with cattle ; becaufe thegreateft
profit really arifes from their being conftantly kept in
good condition ; cfpecially tliofe that give milk, and
thole that are big with young. The ftinted breed
of cattle which we often meet with, and ufually im-
pute to the poornefs of the paflure, badnefs of the
climate, &£c. is in fad generally owing to the mifma-
nagement of their owners, who, through a very ill-
judged greedinefs, over-ftock their paftures, and
thereby difable the mothers from giving fuflicient
Fiourifliment to their young, either before or after
they are born : 'and this original flinting flicks by
tliem through life, unlefs they chance to get verv ear-
ly into a rich paflure -, for then, indeed, they fome-
limes foon outftrip their original breed ; a circum-
flance v/hich proves, that if they were at all times
equally well kept, the breed would be much mend-
ed.
(h) See ibid.
T As
274 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
As-OJ^enare not \srorked piuch in the winter, good
flraw,. and a little hay will thennourilh them fuffici-
ently : but during the time that they do labour, they
ihquld have a great deal more hay than ftraw, and
even a little bran or oats before they go to work. In
fummer, if hay be fcarce, they may have.grals frefh
cut from the field, or the young lucculent boughs
and (hopHts of alh, elm, oak, and other trees ; but
thefe laflfhould be given fparingly, becaufe an ex-
cefs of this alimenj:, of which they are very fond,
fometimes.caufes them to make bloody urine. Clo-
ver, lucerne, fainfoin, burnet, when thefe can be
had, vetches, boiled barley, turnips, carrots, parf-
nips, cabbages, &:c. are alfo excellent food for thefe
animals. There is no need to meafure out the quan- •
tity of their food, bec^u,fe they never eat more than
they want ; and it is therefore proper always to give
them more than they do eat ^. They fliould never
be turned into the paflures till about the middle of
May i becaufe the firft growth of the grafs and other
herbs is.too crude, and though they eat them gree-
dily, they ' difagree with them. iVfter they have
fpent the fummer in the paftures, they fhouldbe
houfed about the middle of Odober ; taking care
that thefe tranlitions from green food to dry, and
from dry to green, be not done at once, but by de-
grees.
The cuftom of giving fait among the fodder is of
an old date, for Columella mentions it (t) as the
practice of his time, and very properly recommends
it much, as well calculated to promote their appetite,
and confequently to aflift their fattening.— 1 have
* Cattle, and all other animals which chew the cud, have
the fingular advantage that they never eat more at once than is
fufficient for them > for they then Ue down and chew the cud :
whereas horfes, and many other animals, continue to eat as
jQng as they are able to fwallow.
(c) Lit. Vh c, iv.
heard
HORNED CATTLE. 275
heard it oblcrved by a gentleman from America, that
the defire for filt is much greater in cattle and horfes
at a diflance from th.e fea than in the countries near
it; rwing perliapstoa grWter frellinefsof the water.
Even in Switzerland, the native horfes of that coun ■
try are very fond of fait, and it is a conftant cuflom
to give it them. There are in feveral partsof Ame-
rica, diflant from the fea, fpots difcovered by the
wild beafts, fuch as deer and buffaloes, where the
earth is of a fahne nature, to which thefe creatures
refort regularly, and lick the earth with their tongues.
They are called falt-licks, and are fometimes an hun-
dred or an hundred and fifty feet wide.
Salt mixed with hay which has not been well s^ot in
feems to adt as an enemy to that fermentation in the
juices which raifes the heat in the hay : for where'it is
mixed with pafte or other foft fubflances, it prevents
putrefaction ; probably by hindering the neceffary
preceding ferment. —Thus it becomes ufeful in hay
on a double account.
Though violent cold is very hurtful to thef8 '&tz-
tures, great heat is perhaps ftill more fo. For this
reafon, in the fummer-time they fhould be led'-to
their work by break of day, and when it grows very
hot, be either fent home, or left to feed under the
(hade of trees, and not returned to work again till
three or four o'clock in the afternoon. In autumn,
winter, and fpring, they may be at plough from
eight or nine in the morning till five or fix in the
evening without intermiilion. But I cannot, by any
means, approve of keeping them continually out of
doors ; efpecially for cows that give milk, or are
with calf. It is furely inhuman to expofe a creature
to a degree of cold which it is not naturally fenced
again ft.
Though oxen do not require fo much attendance as
horfes, yet to keep them brifls. and healthy, it will
be proper, efpecially when they work, to curry them
every day, to rub them down, v/afh them, clear
T 2 their
276 A TREATISE on CATTLE,
their feet of gravel and dirt, greafe their hoofs, Sec.
They muft alfo have drink twice a day, morning
and evening. The horfe likes a thick and warmifh
water -, but for the ox it rfroft be clear and cool. The
pavement of their ftables fhould be a little inclined,
that wet may not reft on it, and they fhould alfo
have dry litter laid under them.
The age at which oxen are generally fattened is
their tenth year, becaufe there is no certainty of fac-
ceeding tlierein afterwards, nor is their flelli Co good'
when they are older. They may be fattened in any
feafon of the 3^ear ; but fummer is commonly chofen,
becaufe it is done then at leaft expence. If it is be-
gun in May or June, they are generally compleatly
fattened before the end of Odober. From the ve-
ry beginning to fatten them, they muft be taken
from all work, drink often, and have plenty of fuc-
culent food, fometimes mingled with a little fait as
before faid ^ or, when a beaft falls off his ftomach,
grafs dipped in vinegar will alfo reftore his appetite,
and confequently help to make him fatten the fooner.
They muft not be difturbed while they are chewing
the cud ; and during the great heats, they Ihould
fleep in a cow-houfe, or fome other ftiady place.
By this means they will become fo fat in four or five
months, as to be fcarce able to walk > ib that if they
are to be fent to any diftant place, it muft be by very
flow journies that they are removed. Cows, and
even bulls whofe tefticles have been knit, may alfo
be fattened : but the flelh of cows is drier, and that
of the knit-bull redder and tougher, than the flelh
of oxen ; and that of the bull has always a ftrong
difagreeable tafte.
Turnips are made to yield a great profit in feed-
ing and fattening of cattle, particularly in Norfolk,
and, of late years, in feveral other counties in Eng-
land. 'When large, they fhould be fliced, as well
to enable the beafts to eat the quicker, as to prevent
their choaking themfelves, which they would
other wife
HORNED CATTLE. 277
other wife be apt to do. Carrots are yet wholefomer,
iiiiich more lubftantial, and confequently more pro-
fitable food : befides which, they render the flefh of
the cattle that are fed with tliem firmer and better
tafled, as tlie Flemings have long experienced : but
a vet more noiuilhing food is parfnips, efpecially for
milch-cows, which, when fed with them, give more
milk than with any other winter-fodder, and that
milk yields better butter than the milk of cow^s nou-
rifhed with any other fubftance. Cattle eat thefe
roots raw at nrft, fliced lengthwife ; and when they
begin not to relifh them, they are cut in pieces, put
into a large copper, preffed down there, and boiled
with only fo much water as fills up the chafms be-
tween them. Our neighbours in Brittany reckon one
crop of parlnips, ufed for feeding cattle, equal in
value to more than three crops of wheat {b). Pota-
toes are another good and very heartening food, and
may, as was before laid of parfnips, be parboil-
ed when cattle like them befl that way. — Buck-
wheat makes very good fodder for cattle; and fo
d(jes, in particular, the yellow-flowered vetch. In
Germany and Flanders, fpurrey is preferred before
any other fodder, not excepting even corn, and is
found to produce the richell milk and beft butter.
Cabbages, efpecially the Scotch kale and the great
American cabbage, are reckoned preferable to tur-
nips, in point of health as wfell as fpeed in fattening,
and it is faid, that one acre of them will go as far as
three of turnips : but it is to be obferved, that in
ufing them, efpecially for milch-cows, the withered
or decayed leaves Ihould be dirown away, beoiufe
they are thought to give a bad tafte to the milk.
Clover is undoubtedly an.excellent food for cattle,
and we are told that one acre of it will feed as many
of them as four or five acres of common grafs : but
(h) Ohfei-^ciiiior.j d« la Socieic itj^griculture, de Commerce, et
^es Arts, etahlie ^ar Its Etats de Brelapnf. Ar.rces I "5", et
1758. /. S8.
T ; they
278 A TREATISE on CATTLE. •
they fhould never be turned into it in wet weather, nor
whilfl the dew is yet upon the plant, left it fhould
burft them. It fhould be given tliem fparingly at
firft, till it purges them : for when it has produced
this effedl, the danger is generally over. But of all
the plants that are given to cattle for their food, none
is equal to lucerne, either for early, fpeedy, or good
fatting ; for with this the^grazier may begin fatten-
ing towards the end of April, and finifh about the
middle of harveft, v/hen meat generally bears an
high price. A large fatting ox may be allowed forty
pounds, or perhaps more, of green lucerne each
day*. All cattle are remarkably fond of lucerne,
and always prefer that which has been cut a day or
two, and ftood twenty-four or forty-eight hours in a
dry fhady place. By this precaution too all danger
of it's fwelling them, which it might otherwife be
apt to do, like clover and trefoil, is removed : on^y
it is to beobferved, that more caution fhould be uf-
ed in giving it to cows, than to bullocks. When
oxen or heifers are fed for the butcher with lucerne,
the fat will fpread itfelf through the lean, like veins
in marble ; and the flefh will be remarkably well-fla-
voured.
Oil-cakes, meaning the refidue of the feeds of Hn,
rape, or colefeed, after their oil has been exprefled
from them, are well known to be great fatteners of
cattle, efpecially if thefe drink plentifully with them:
but they are apt to render the fat yellow and l^ank.
To remedy this, the cattle (hould be fed with dry
fodder, for a fortnight or three weeks before they
are k':iled.
A beaft is well-fed outwardly, that is to fay, well
covfr^d with flefh, when his huckle-bones appear
round and plump, his ribsfmooth, his flanks full, his
neck thick, his cod round, and, on feeling him upon
* The Jintient Romans feliowed twenty pounds of lucerne-
hay at night tq a large labouring ox> that was not fatliug.
the
H O R^ ED 'CATTLE. fj^
the nethermoil ribs, the fkin feels foft and loofe ; and
iT, behdes the above marks, the fetting on of the
tail feels thick, full and foft, and the navel roun. III. c. i.
IJ that
290 A TREATISE on CATTLE,
that is empty and exhaufted, fooner than one that
has been well fed : and furely no man will grudge
them a fufficient plentiful allowance of food,
who confiders how far the price of oxen which perifh
through want, exceeds the expenceof that food.
If oxen are put upon running at their full fpeed,
or if they are otherwife over-fatigued, at any time
of the year, but efpecially in the fummer, either
they contract thereby a loofenefs, which proves per-
nicious to them, or flight fevers: for this animal, be-
ing naturally flow, and rather adapted to eafy labour "
than to fwift motion, is grievoully hurt, if forced to
go beyond his ftrength.
Neither fwine nor hens ihould come near their
cribs i for when an ox has fwallowed hen's dung with
his food, he is prefently tormented with violent pains
in his belly ; and when he fwells with it he dies. In
cafe of his having fwallowed any, the bell way is to
give him three ounces of parfley-feed, half a pound
of cummin-feed, and two pounds of honey, mixed
together, and poured warm down his throat, to force
him to walk, and to rub him heartily till the draught
moves his belly. The alhes of any wood well fifted
boiled in a fufficient quantity of oil to render them
liquid, and then poured down the ox's throat, will
alio be of great benefit againfl the bad effects of this
fort of dung.
But if an ox fwallows hog's dung, or more efpeci-
ally the filth which a fick fow has vomited, he is
prefently feized with fo contagious a difeafe, diat it
fpeedily affeds a whole herd. When therefore there
is the leafl fufpicion of this diflemper, the catde
muftbe removed andfeparated to paftures where none
fuch have been fed, that fo they may not hurt one.
another ; for by feeding they infed the grafs, and
the water by drinking of it. An ox, though otlier-
wife in perfedl health, may perifh by the Iniell and
breath of the difeafed blowing upon him. AVhen
this happens, the dead carcafe mull be carried to
a diftance.
HORNED CATTLE. 291
a diftance, and buried deep, left the found be in-
tested by it, and the negligence of the owner be im-
puted (as is ufually done by fools, fays Vegetius) to
the divine difpleafure. In the cafe here fpoken of,
lie recommends half an ounce of fquills Diced thin,
infufed in a pint of wine, with about two ounces of
fait, to be given every morning to each creature thus
infecfled, — But as infcvflious difeafes will be the pro-
fefl'ed fubjedl of the laft part of this work, I fhall
not enlarge upon them here, any farther than juft to
mention the /imilitude which Mr. Ofmer thinks there
is between the diflemper in horfes before defcribed,
and that amongft oxen.
" To die bed of my obfervation," fays he,
" what is called the diftemper amongft the horned
" cattle, is exadlly correfpondent to the diftemper
*' amongft the horfes ; the fymptoms in each animal
*' being fimilar in all refpeds. — The difcharge from
*' the noftrils, &c. of the cow in thefe fevers, about
"■ the nature of which, and of this diftemper, there
" has been abundance of fine writing, is nothing
" elfe but an exrravafation of the ferous particles of
" the blood, the efte(5t of inflammation ; and there-
" fore in obedience to the attempts of nature, our
" bufinefs is to invent all the methods we can to car-
" ry off this extravafated ferum ; and the incifions,
" as before directed for the horfe, made in the fkin
" of the cow, "w ill, as it does in horfes with the
" fame fort of fever, produce in twenty-four hours
" a nafty foetid purulent matter. By a number of
'*■ thefe drarns the parts will be unloaded, and the
" animal relieved, and they do in all inflammatory
" fevers amongft horfeg, and I dare fay will too
**■ amongft the cows, anfwer nearly the fame end
" and purpofe as a critical abfcefs. But when no
"critical abfcefs happens, or no artificial drains are
made ufe of, the natural ones not being iufiicient
*' to carry off the extravafated ferum, the vifcera and
" more noble parts are, in time, affedcd, the bluod
U 2 "and
((
292 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
{^nd juices deviate by degrees into a (late of pu-
*' trcfadion and corruption, and the animal dies a
*' moft wretched death.
" If any man object and fay, this diflemper of
the cows is infettious, and therefore it is of the
*' putrid, and not of the inflammatory kind : — I an-
fwer, that it does not appear to be infectious, be-
caufe fome cows amongft a number of infe6led
ones have efcaped it. But allowing it to be c^
the putrid or peftilential kind, and to arife from
air, mfedlion, or both, thefe artificial drains made
in die fkin will be very proper, becaufe they will
anfwer in fome meafure the fame end, as the bu-
*' bo or critical impofthume befalling the human fpe-
cies in pefli.lential diforders, if they are properly
" managed. — And here it may be obferved, that
wlien diftempered cows have efcaped death, it has
been generally owing to fome critical abfcefs ; va-
" rious inftances of which I have feen.
*' To thefe artificial drains fhould be added the
"" ufe of cooling falts, and laxative glyfters, if
" needful.
*■' It is neceffary ever to remember, that bleeding
*' the horfe or cow will be wrong, and mufl do harm,
" when a difcharge from the nollrils, &:c. is begun,
" becaufe it is contrary to the effort of nature -, and
*' fo it is when there is any fwelling that is tend-
" ing to matter, which kinds of fwellings can be
" diftinguifhed by the fkilful only."
Indigeflion is very hurtful to oxen, and is known
by the following figns : frequently belching, loath-
ing of their food, noife in their belly, heavy eyes :
the. creature neither chews his cud, nor licks himfelf
as ufual. — In this cafe, pour down his throat two
gallons of water as warm as he can bear it, and foon
after give him a.bout thirty leaves of colewort boiled
in water, and afterwards ibaked in vinegar j and he
mufl abllain from food for one day.
Negleded
HORNED CATTLE. 293
Negleded indigeflion brings on colics ; but thefe
having already been fully treated of in the difeafes
of horfes, I fhall here mention houing^ a diforder
which is almoft peculiar to the horned cattle.
This diforder proceeds from a too-fudden fer-
ment in their green fucculent food, whereby the
elaftic air let loofe by the fermentation, but confin-
ed by the hard fasces wliich do not fpeedily enough
give way to it, becomes liighiy acrid, like tJie gafs
ariling from fermented liquors, which often proves
mortal to thofe who breatheit. The method of .cure
fhould therefore be, clearing the great gut of hard
excrcmenr, injecting a ilimulating glyfter, and giv-
ing cooling things internally. This agrees with what
M. Bourgelat propofes, when he fays (/»), " Thus
" it is, for example, that with nitre given in half a
*' glafs of brandy, and often even with emollientglyf-
'* tcrs only, we have faved confiderable numbers of
"' oxen ready to expire in their paftures, after vain
" endeavours had been ufed to eafe them, accord-
*' ing to the common practice, by many incifions
" made in the fkin, doubtlefs with an intention to
*' difengage the cellular membrane from the air that
" filled it, and of which carminativ^es would inevi-
" tably have increafed the diforder, and haftened
" the death of the beaft."
Farmers are apt to fall into a great error when
their cattle have got die better of this diforder -, and
that is, by letting them become cortive again, and
confequently liable to a return of the fame danger
when they next feed on fucculent plants ; whereas
were they to continue to give them green food after
a purging has been once brought on, no farther in-
convenience could enfue. Immerging them in cold
water when thus diftended brings on an immediate
purging, and thereby faves their lives.
The mouths and tongues of horned cattle arc fub-
(b) Ecolevetirinaire j Matter e McJicale, />. II2.
U 3 jea
2p4 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
je(5l to the fame forts of fwellings as thofe of horfes,
and a like productive of an inability to eat.
Thefe fhonld alfo be cut off with a knife or fcif-
fars, and then rubbed vvidi fait and let heal. If they
have no appetite to their food, and yet no figns of
indifpofitioh appear, it will be proper to rub their
chops with fait and garlic beaten together, or with
fome other ftimulating fubftance.
The cure of internal difeafes in cattle is fo nearly
the fame as for horfes, and the dofes of their medi-
cines fo much alike, that a repetition of them here
feems needlefs. The caufes of their lamenelTes, and
the methods of curing them, ^re alfo fimilar ; and
the feet of both require fo nearly the fame cutting
and care of the hoof, that the leafl degree of intelli-
gence will fuffice to vary them properly.
The eaftration of calves is likewife performed in
the fame manner as that of horfes.
BOOK
SHEEP. 295
BOOK V,
Of S H E E P.
C H A P. I.
Of the ^lahties and different Kinds of Sheep.
*' OHEEP have golden feet, and wherever they
i3 fet them the earth becomes gold," fay the
Swedes, by way of exprelTing their high eflimation
of this animal. In effed, there is not any one do-
meftic creature which yields greater profit to man
than fheep do. Their flefh, their milk, their Ikin,
their inteftines, their dung, in fhort, every part of
them, is neceffary for fomeufe or other, and turns to
good -account.
Though their flefh and milk furnilh us with vari-
ety of excellent food, yet their wool is the chief ob-
ject, efpecially to a commercial nation like this ; for
of it is formed in Britain the ftaple-commodity to
which we owe the wealth and grandeur that render
us the arbiters of power in Europe.
Atthefametimethatthiscreature is the moflufeful,
it is alfo, in itfelf, one of the moft defencelefs againfl
enemies : Providence mtending, as it would feem,
that it fhould owe its very exiftence to our care, and
be entitled to our protection, in return for the means
of enjoyment and wealth which it affords us : for it
not only wants protedion but care alfo, more than
any other- domeftic animal. — Sheep are of a very
weakly conftitution ; much fatigue exhaufts them ;
U 4 they
296 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
they can ill bear extremes of heat or cold ; their dif-
eafes are many, and mofl of them contagious , and
their yeaning is attended with difiiculty and danger.
They are faid to be fenfible to the charms of mu-
fic, fo as to feed more alliduoiifly, to be in better
health, and to fatten fooncr by the found of a pipe :
but perhaps it may be more rightly thought, that mu-
fic ferves to amufe the fhepherd's tedious hours, and
even that the origin of that art was owing to this fo-
litary life.
Sheep love their keepers and thofe who take care of
them ; they follow them, and obey "their voice, h
muft however be obfefved, that if the fhepherd has
not a watchful eye over them, one or other of his
fheep may eafily ftray from the reft of the flock,
wander fnto places it is unacquainted with, and there
fall down a precipice, or tumble into a hole or ditch,
cfpecially, if the creature has been frightened, which
fheep very eafily are ; for when they have once loft
their way, they run ftrait on, without ftopping, and
always diredly againft the wind, particularly if it
blows hard, and they chance to be in an open place,
a wide road, or on the borders of the fea. They are
very fond of light, and never thrive well in dark
places ; and fuch is their fondnefs for fociety, that
frequently a fheep left alone will pine away, become
emaciated, and quite lofe his ftrength.
The re-eftablilhment of the beft kinds of fheep
in England, and greater care of their fleeces, are
objecSls well deferving the attention of government :
for, notwithftanding all our boafted improvements,
it is certain that the quality of our wool in general"
has been on the decline for fome time paft *. Thefe
* Mr. Lifle, whofe judgment and veracity in matters of this
kind ftand unimpeached, tells us, in his Obferz'ations on Hujbmi-
dry, article SLeepy that, even fo late as his time, and he has not
been dead many years, the clothiers complained that our Here-
fordfliire wool, and particularly that of our great ftaple, w:i-. no
longer fo fine as formerly.
ufeful
S A E E p. 297
ufeful creatures, which were the chief wealth of for-
mer ages, become ^f ft ill greater value as art and in-
liultry increafe among us. One cannot, therefore,
but be aftoniflied at the indifference into which this
?uition has fallen with regard to her fheep, and efpe-
cially too at a time when every other country is ex-
erting it's utmofl: endeavours to imprpve it's breed,
and the manner of managing it's flocks. At this
A ery iuftunt, we are ftrongly called upon to be par-
ticularly attentive to this great object, by the mea-
fures which the French are indefatigably purfuing to
mprove the breed of their fheep, by introducing
iliofe of every country where they excel.
\Vc have no particular accounts of what our fheep
were in antient times ; though we may prefume that
our wool was always fought for by foreign manufac-
turers, becaufe our Hiftory informs us, that the du-
ty paid on the exportation of it was a confiderablc
article of the royal revenue ^.
If we take a general view of the whole of Eng-
land, we fliail find, that the temperature of our cli-
mate, and the quality and almoft perpetual verdure
of our paftures, render it one of the bell fituated
countries in the world for raifing flocks of
iheep. We are free from every difcouraging circum-
{l;ance with regard to them. We have no armies of
infet^ts or reptiles that are enemies to them ; no
wolves, nor any other animal whofe nature is to
prey upon them, if we except foxes, of which again
the numbers are fcarcely more than fuffice to give
* In furmer time?, " the wealth of the nobility, gentry, and
" nionafteries confided. ghicfly in wool, which alfo then made
'* the bulk of private property at home. It was at the fame
" Mine the pri. lie article in commerce. Aids to the crown was
" granted therein. It fiipplied the demands for the fupport of
" aruiits, the payir.enc of fubfidies, and all other expences in-
*' curred on the account of the public in foreign parts," f-.ys
the learned Dr. Campbell, in "jsl. IF. p. 152, of his excellent
^■jlitical Sut-t>ey of Great Britain.
proper
29B A TREATISE on CATTLE.
proper healthy exercife to men, who might othervvife
indulge themfelves in too mudieafe. Our frofl: and
Ihow are generally of fhort continuance. Our ex-
ten five downs, our hills, tl;e fides of our mountains,
and even our fteep rocks, abound in fine grafs, which
feeds a fmaller breed of fnern ; whilft our richer paf-
tures of Lincolnfhire and Ely maintain thofe of a lar-
ger fiz€; and we are furroundcd with a fea-coaft, the
air of which is thought to be particularly favourable
to the health and thriving of fheep, as well as to the
finenefs of their wool. — The air of the fea is found
to be fo wholefome and favourable to fheep, that the
hufbandmen who live at a diftance from that element
find their advantage in recruiting their flocks with
fheep from near the fea.
Columella {a) mentions the feveral kinds of fheep
mofl in repute in his days, and gives an inflance of
the judgment of his uncle, M. Columella, an ex-
cellent hufbandman, in mending the breed of his own
fheep, by coupling with them rams broughtfrom Afri-
ca : and indeed it is highly probable, that the excel-
lence of the Spanifh wool, now fo juftly valued, took
it's rife from combinations of this kind during the
long refidence of the Moors in that kingdom.
Dom Pedro IV, King of Caflile, was the firft
Prince who introduced the good kind of fheep which
they now have in Spain, by bringing thither the Bar-
bary breed. In two ages, they began to decline ;
when Cardinal Ximenes reflored the breed, by pro-
curing a frefh fupply of rams from Barbary, that is
to fay, of rams bred by the Arabians there ; by ex-
citing amongft the people an emulation which conti-
nues to this day ; and by fixing their attention to this
objed, which has hitherto preserved the goodnefs of
the Spanifh wool *.
The
(rt) De re ruJUca, Lih. VII. c. it.
* The tineft of the Spaniili wools are Uiofe of Caftile, whicJi
are divided, according to the places of their growth, into Sego-
vians.
SHEEP. 299
The memoirs of the Royal Society of Agriculture
tu Rouen fay (b), that in the fifteenth century, our
Kd^^ arc! IV. obtained a number of this race from the
king of Caftile, which throve very well, and laid the
fecundation of the excellency of our wool. Henry
VIII, and Queen Elizabeth, contributed much to it's
perfection, by direding the attention of govern-
ment to thisgreatnationalconcern. Menofdiftinguifli-
ed judgment and integrity were commillioned to fu-
perintend the proper diflribution and future care of
the Caftilian fheep. How this commillion has fince
come to be negleded, I know not. Thefecommif-
fioners fent two Caftilian ewes and one ram to every
parifli in which the pafture was thought proper for
them i and the care of them there was intrufted to
the yeomen and moft confiderable farmers, to whom
peculiar privileges were at the fame time granted on
this account. Farther, in order the fooner to have a
quantity of good wool, the fineft native ewes were
alfo fingled out, and covered by the Spanifh rams,
from whence proceeded a baftard race, much fupe-
rior in quality to thofe of die country. Shepherds
were taught the art of managing (heep, and written
inftrudions were given them, which, I am forry to
fay it, are now loft f. At this time began the
cuftom
vians, Leonifas, Segovlas, Sorias, and Molinas- The wools
of Arragon are lefs fine : ihefe are Albarazins, fine and middle,
the Campos, and ihe black wool of Saragofla. Portugal and Na-
varre produce alfo fine wools. Our imports of wool from Spain
have generally been of the prime of the Caftilian, ufed in mak-
ing our fineft cloths.
(hj Tome 11. p. 58.
t Dr. Campbell, in his very valuable Po///;f/z/ Survey of
Great Britain, Vol. II. p. 151, treats the whole of this account
of Edward the Fourth's, or any other of our Kings procuring
flieep from Spain, to renew or improve our breed, as a mere fic-
tion, invented by P. Chomel, in his Didiionnarie Oecommique,
to ihew how eaWy fuch a fcheme might be executed in France ;
and
500 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
niftom of holding them in the warm kindly wea-
ther, and the lame pradlice was afterwards continii-
<'d during the winter. The abode of the Spanifh
Iheep in England altered by degrees the nature of
their wool -, it became much longer, but did not
continue fo fine as before ; owing, probably, to the
difference of the pafture. Our wool is however
whiter and cleaner than that of Spain, through tlx
and I confefs that the Dodlor's arguments feem to nie next to ab-
folutely conclufive agaioft it : indeed, if it relied I'olely upon the
credit ot Father Cbomel, I ihould not helitate a moment to pro-
nounce him rij^ht. But as it comes to me from an infinitely more
refpeflable quarter, from a fociety jullly revered by the whole
world, feme of vvhofe members are nobles of the firfl: diftinftion,
and others highly eminent for their great knowledge, I cannot
fuppofe them to have taken this upon truft from the Didio-
nary-writer, or to have advanced It as a fatt, vi'ithout better au-
thority than his for their fo doing. The Gafcon and Norman
RoUes, publifhed by the late Mr. Carte, are a proof, not to
mention feveral more w^hich might be inftanced, that there may
Itill be in France, and particularly in thofe parts of it which once
were jubjeft to us, records relative to our hiftory which we are
yet unacquainted with ; and it is not impoflible that the anecdote
here alluded to may be one of them, even though the name of
the prince, and the date, may be miftaken. However, I fpeak
here only from furmife- — Let me now ufe an argument which
may pofTibly be more ftriking. The Doctor himfelf, adopting
the opinion Qf thofe who think that the Northern parts of this
ifland were peopled from Germany, the Southern from Gaul,
and the Weftern and Ireland from Spain, fays, p. 150. " it
cannot be doubted, that as the inhabitants of Britain and Ire-
land, fotheflieep alfo came originally hither from fome other
country, and moil probablv, for many reafons that might be
afligned, from Spain.- — This feems to be confirmed by the
breed being the fame in both iflands, and having a great refem-
blance unto thofe of Spain — Now, with fubmilfion to the Doc-
tor, to whofe opinion I fhallever pay a iincere deference, is it any
way unreafonable to fuppofe, that the J>Tced of flieep imported
into this ifland at the time of it's being firfl: inhabited, might
have degenerated, in the courfeof many centuries, fo as to Hand
in need of a kind of renewal ; and, in that cafe, could there be
any more proper way than applying to the country from which
the good breed firft came.? No matter which of our princes did
it ; or even whether it was not done at all. Some fuch expedi-
ent would be of fervice now to improve our prefent race.
great
SHEEP. 201
great aire which tlie Englilh take to keep their flocks
free from filth -, an attention hitherto negleded by
the Spaniard s-
To the above mixture of the Spanilh flieep with
the natives of this iiland, and the greater or lefs
degeneracy of .their pofterity, is owing that we now
fee in England three forts of Iheep ; the common,
wliich are very fmall -, the ballard, wliich are of a
middle fize ; and the ftrong, fine and plentiful breed-
ers.
The Gloucefterfliire, particularly tliofe of Cotef-
wold, the Herefordfhire, Shropfliire, and the ifle of
Wight Iheep, yield the fineft wool of any in Eng-
land : they are fhort-legged, and have commonly a
black forehead or a black head. The Warwickfhire,
Leiceflerfhire, Buckingham, and Lincolnfhire fheep
are the largeft and beft lliaped, and their wool is the
deepeft of any we have, but not fo fine as that of thd
former. The Yorkfhire fheep are likewife pretty
large, but their wool is coarfe ; and in general, that
of all the Northem counties is long, but hairy.
The Wellli llieep are the fmallefl of, all and their wool
is by no means the finefl ; but in return their flefh is
excellently well flavoured. The wool of the Calli-
lian iheep is undoubtedly much fi.ner than that of
even the beft Englilh ; but 'it is lefs in quantity,
chiefly becaufe the fheep themfelves are fmaller :
tliough there are in fome parts of Spain Iheep larger
and covered with more wool than any of the Englilh.
For their -wool, the Englifh are certainly the next
beft to the Spanilh.
The Irifh wool in general^^ but efpecially in Lime-
rick, Kilkenny, Kerry, W'aterford, Cork, and fome
other counties, is of the fine long combing kind,
fcarcely furpaffed by'a|y of the fort in England.
This is the wool that is moft acceptable in foreign
parts, where they have fhort wool enough of their
own, or may eafily procure it from Spain and Portu-
gal.
In
302 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
In the laft century, the Dutch brought from tlie
Eaft-Indies a race of tall fheep, long and thick in the
body, with wool proportioned to the flature of the
animal. This valuable breed has fucceeded beyond
expedation in the ifland of the Texel and in Eaft-
Friefland. One of thefe fheep yields a fleece of
from ten to fixteen pounds of a fine filky wool,
which the Dutch fell for Englifh wool.
The Flemings alfo procured forne of the fame
fort of flieep, which they breed about Li fie and
Varneton, where they thrive well, and are known by
the name of Flcmifli fheep.
The largeft of thefe fheep are fix feet long from
head to tail. In Holland, they give four lambs in the
year ; whereas in Flanders they bring but two, of
which the flrongeft is reared in order to keep up the
flock. Each of thefe likewife yields"as far as fixteen
pounds of wool. They would be preferable to thofe
of the Tcxel, if the fame care was taken of them,
and if they were more numerous than they are.
Mo ft of the fheep about Lille are a baftard race pro-
ceeding from the Indian rams and the ewes of the
country, and yield from fix to ten pounds of wool,
little inferior to that of the true breed. Their flefh
is well-tafled and wholefome : a carcafe of it weighs
from ninety to a hundred and twenty-five pounds,
and yields about thirty pounds of fuet. They are in
themfelves the fineft, largeft, and ftrongeft of any
llieep. They require, indeed, a larger quantity of
fgod i but on the other hand they are indifferent in
regard to it's qualrty : they are eafily taken care of,
naturally healthy, and if fick eafilv cured. Their
v/ool differs little from that of England, only it does
not fo eafily take fine colours. It is not fo fine as it
might be, for feveral reafons^the principal of which
are, that tlicy are feldom foloed ; that they are kept
too warm in their houfes during the winter ; that
tlieir litter is not changed often enough, whereby it
not only dirts, but alfo gives a bad fmcll to theit
. wool j
S H E E P. 303
wool ; and that fuftkieiit care is not taken to keep
them from hedges, bufhes, and brambles, which not
only tear off their wool, but fcratch their fkin,
which, if not healed in time, degenerates into the
fcab.
The Swedes, after having tried in vain to mend
the breed of their fheepin the reign of queen Chrifti-
na, fat the fame defigii again on foot in the year 1 725.
They imported into their country a number of the
beft kinds of fheep from England and Spain, and
put them under the management of fkilful lliepherds,
to be treated according to their feveral natures. Af-
ter the example of England, heretofore, they efta-
blifhed fchools for training up fhepherds, who were
fent from thence to the different parts of the king-
dom ; and thofe fchools are continued to this day.
They put the foreign rams to their native ewes, and
from thence proceeds a valuable baftard race. By
this care, Sweden now has, notwithftanding the ri-
gour of It's climate, wool which nearly refembles the
EnglilTi and Spaniih. The French have, in feveral
parts of their kingdom, numbers of llieep of the
true Spanifh breed, and they multiply there exceed-
ingly ; fo that, as the authors of the Maifon riiliigue
obferves (<:), it might be eafy for them, by follow-
ing the method formerly pradifed in England, to
eftablifh every where that race, which v/ould yield
twice or thrice as much profit as their own common
fheep, as well in point of fize, of the goodnefs of
their lambs and rams, of fruitfulnefs, and of milk^
us of the quantity and quality "of their wool and
fkins.
The provinces of Berry and Beauvais are thofj
in which the mofl and beft (lieepin France are rear-
ed. Thofe of Beauvais, and fome other parts of
Normandy, are the largell, and the fulled of fuet.
In Burgandy, they are very good ; bur the bell are
(c) Tom. I. Part I. Lii'. ii\ c. 3.
thofe
304 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
thofe that are feed on the Tandy coafls of the man'-
time provinces of France. In Poitou, Provence, the
neighbourhood of Bayonne, and fome other parts
of France, there are Iheep which feem to be of a
foreign breed : they are ftronger, larger, and have a
great deal more v/ool than thofe of the common
breed. Thefe fheep are alfo more prolific than the
others ; it being nothing extraordinary for them to
have two lambs at a time, and to yean twice a year.
The rams of this breed, engendering with the com-
mon ewes of the country, produce an intermediate
breed, partaking .of the two from which it proceeds.
Some think that the prefent Italian fheep are the
offspring of a mixture of the Afiatic and the Euro-
pean kinds. But be that as it may, there are in the
Breflan (d), towards Mantua, fheep whofe wool is
indeed coarfe, but of fo quick growth that they arf
(beared three times a year, namely, m March, in
July, and in November. It is true, they would not
yield fo great a quantity of wool in cold countries ;
but in warm ones they will, every where ; and yet
they are of fo robuil a conflitution, that they fear
neither rain, cold, nor even hoar frofts, but will feed
Jit all times in the open field, provided the ground be
not covered with fnow. ' The^f yield plenty of milk
during four or five months of the year, and excel-
lent cheefe is made with it. Another kind of Bref-
cian fheep, called baftard fheep, but for what rea-
fon I know not, bears fhearing twice a year, and is
much efleemed, though fmaller than the former.
But the finefk wool of all Italy proceeds from that
kind of fheep which the Brefcians call^^f/z////, and of
which numbers are fed in the Trentin, efpecially
about the villages of Ghede and Montechiaro : but
as thefe fheep are extremely difficult to rear and rake
care of, and as the finenefs of their wool is owing
to the climate and pafture of the country, they pro-
bably might not thrive elfewhere.
(J) Hid. lom. J. p. 348. .
The
SHEEP. 305
The wool of the Ruflian, Polifh, and Tartarian
ftieep, is better than that of the common German
fhecp ; and accordingly the Swedes make ufe of it in
their manufa<5lures of cloth, ftockings, &:c.
All the above-mentioned forts of fheep certainly
form but one greatly -diverfified fpecies, which in
M. de Buffon's opinion {e) hardly extends beyond
Europe : for as to thofe long and broad-tailed crea-
tures fo common in Africa and Afia, and to which
travellers have given the name of Barbary Jheep, they
feem to him to be of a different fpecies from our
fheep ; as do likewife the American vigcnia and la-
ma.
Daily experience proves that the European fheep
in fome degree alter their very nature ; for inflance,
in Lincolnfhire they are large, heavy, and flow in
their gait. On the downs of Sulfex, Wiltfhire, and
Dorfetlhire, they are fmaller, more hardy, and fleet-
er ; and in the mountains of Wales they are ftill lefs
of fize, and fo adlive as fcarcely to be confined by
any inclofures. If we extend our view farther, we
fhall find, that the kind which yields the foftefl; and
finefl wool in Britain, when feat to the Wefl: Indies
becomes hairy like a goat. It is alfo obferved in
North America, that the quality of their v/ool depends
much on the temperature and climate of the country :
in fome of : the middle provinces, fuch as New York,
the Jerfeys, bic. their wool is of fo good a quality,
that a farnple of it fent hither fome years ago fold
for as high a price as our befl j although this was
only from a common tobacco-plantation, where no
care had been taken of it fince America was firfl:
fettled *.
(f) Hijioire Nattirelk Je la Brehis-
* The fadl here alluded to is mentioned in The Prcfcnt State
of America, p. 142 j allowed by bir J. Dalrympie, in hii Politi-
cal Pffa-ys, &ed. I. Colonies, p. 263 ; and continued by a letter to
the writer .of this work from an eniinent merchant in New York,
who fays pofitively, " our wool in eeneral is belter than the Eng-
'MilTii:
X
job A TREATISE on CATTLE.
" lifli : but how fmall is the quantity we raife ! It is true, fomc
" late oppreflive a6ts, as the fugar-aft, ftainp-aft, and new du-
*' ty aft on glafs, paper, dffc. raifed a Ipirit in the country tor
** manufadtories, and doubl(J the number of flieep ; but I affirm,
** that our wool was not a quarter part fufficienttor our conlump-
" tion. I have taken pains to get an account of the number of
*' iheep in New Jerfey ; and as they were formerly taxed, I be-
** lieve it jull, and that the whole number does not exceed one
" hundred thoufand. Thefe, at an average, yield about 2^1b.
** each, which is fold for about fifteen pence llerling a pound
** This quantity will be under 3 -gib. /fr head, for apparel ^id
" bed-clothes, and not near fufficient for their demand. The
" country-people, indeed, mix linen-yarn in their cloth, which
** helps out, and makes it very ftrong j yet, though every pound
'* is worked up, the towns, villages, and iron-works cannot be
*' fupplied,* and depend on Englifli cloth and ftufFs. I think
" Fennfyivania keeps ftill fev^'er flieep. It is true Long-ifland
" and the iflands in the Sound greatly exceed : but then the
*' northern parts of the colony of New-York keep much fewer ;
V lb that, on the whole, they are not equal to Jerfey.
" I have found from experience that no farming is more pro-
" fitablethan flieep, and now keep an hundred and fifty on tJic
" fame farm where my predeceffor kept but twenty-five. I efti-
" mate the profit from eight to ten fliillings a head /^r annum,
*' and this on land that rents at two fhillings fterling per acre. I
" would willingly increafe my ftockr but find my farm will not
*' bear it ; though, on four hundred acres of arable and mea-
'* dow land,' I only keep befides, eighteen head of cattle, thirty
" hogs, eight horfes, and plough about eighty acres for fum-
" mer and winter grain. I winter, indeed, thirty head more of
" young cattle which I fummer in the woods. The fmallenefs
" of this llock will furprize a Britifli farmer : but our fields do
'* not yield like thofe of England ; owing to our cold fprings
** and hot fummers, long droughts and heavy rains, bad huf-
*' bandry and want of manure.
" To what I before faidof our not having a fufficient quantity
" of wool, I will now add the prices which I actually paid for
*' manufacturing a piece of doth, three quarters of a yard
" wide.
• New York Currendy.
" Spinning 23I lb. of wool, at ^s. 6d. per lb.
" VVeaving 34 vards of cloth, at ij-. —
" Fulling, prefling, and dyeing 25 yards at
i s. 6(1.
" Wool 2^-;. lb. picked and cleaned, at zs-. 6d.
Which
L-
s.
d.
4
2
I
'4
I
»7
6
■*■
17
9
10
I I
SHEEP. '507
" Which is Ss. 'yil Currency, or near 5*. fterling per yard.
'* The cloth, after a few days wear, looked very indifferent.
I had it made up for myfelf, as moll of the gentlemen here
pique ihenifelves in fetting an example of wearing country-
made cloth; but we were under a neceflity of buying Eng-
liili cloth for our negroes. The reftridions being taken off
our trade, we are returned to wearing Englifh cloth, and
hope like caufes will not oblige us to recur to the fame refolu-
tions. We are now convinced that we cannot hire to make
cloth under almoft double what the Englifh does coft : but at
the fame lime farmers who have the labour done within them-
felves, and by this means employ the women, who would
otherwife be idle, will always make cloth for themfelves with
advantage j efpecially as it is faid to wear better : but we
have not the leall profpcft of making a yard for exportation."
This letter was written in December, 1773; the fafts re-
lated in it may be depended on ; and the writer of this work moft
fmcerely wilhes, that the long and literal extra<5l of it here given
may tend in any fenfe to rectify the miftaken opinions now, un-
happily, too prevalent. Such is his reafon for inferting it
here.
X 2 CHAP.
•,%f
A TREATISE ON CATTLE.
Of the Management of Sheep.
t. S the fize and welfare of the fheep, and the
goodnefs of their wool, depend much on the
nature and quality of their pafture, this becomes an
article of the utmoft importance to the hufbandman,
and therefore deferves a, particular enquiry.
In order to their being rightly managed, the owner
fliould be very careful what kind of fhepherd he en-
trufts his fheep to : for the fhepherd not only accom-
panies them to the field, but fhould alfo take care
that they do not feed in improper places ; improper,
on account of the quality of the food and drink, as
well as other dangerous circumftances. He fhould
likewife be particularly attentive that no improper
rams mix with the flock ; to give immediate relief to
thofe that fall fick, efpecially in lambing-time, and
for this reafon he fhould be well acquainted with their
difeafes. In fhort, his prefence and care fliould be
fo conftant, that the fheep fhall obey him out of a
kind of love. He fhould be vigilant and circum-
fped, govern them with great clemency, and fays
Columella 0?), who flridly enjoins the fame rule to
the keepers of all forts of cattle, be more like a cap-
tain and leader than a lord and mafter. When he
threatens them it fhould be with a loud fhout and
fhaking his ftaff at them : but he never fhould throw
any offenfive weapon at them, nor remove to any
great diflance from them ; neither Ihould he lie down,
(«) Lih. VIL c. Hi.
or
SHEEP. . _,3P^
or fit down, but, unlefs he be going fdfW'ifd, he
ihould ftand, to be the better able at all times to
look around him, to fee that neither the flow and big
with young, whilft they loiter, nor the nimble, whilft
they run before, be feparated from the reft -, left ei-
ther a thief or a wild beaft deceive the heedlefs inat-
tentive guardian.
We find by Columella, that it was an early cuf-
tom to lead (heep to far diftant paftures at different
feafons of the year ; and the Spaniards haye flill re-
tained this practice, as will appear from the following
abridgment of a judicious account of their manner
of managing the royal flocks, tranfmitted by a gen-
tleman in Spain to the late Mr. Peter Collinfon,
F. R.S.
" There are two kinds of flieep in Spain, namely,
" the -coarfe-woolled fheep, which remain all their
" lives in their native country, and which are houfed
" every night in the winter ; and the fine-woolled
" (heep, which are all their lives in the open air,
" which travel every fummer from the cool moun-
" tains of the northern parts of Spain, to feed all
" the winter oa the fouthern warm plains of Anda-
" lufia, Manca, and Eftremadura. It has appeared
" from very accurate calculations, that there are not
*' fewer than five millions of fine-woolled fheep in
" Spain ; and it is reckoned that the wool and flefh
" of a flock of ten thoufand fheep produce yearly
*' about twenty-four reals a head, which we may
*' fuppofe to be nearly tJie value of twelve fix-pences
" fterling*. -
* Of thefe, but one clear a head goei to the owner yearly ;
three Gx-pences a head go yearly to the king, and the other eight
go to the expences of pafture, tythes, fhepherds, dogs, fair,
iheering, &c. Thus the annual produce of five millions of
iheep aaioiwits to thirty-feven millions and a half of fix-pences,
a little more oriels, of which about three millions and anhalfare
for the owners, above fifteen millions enter into the trealury, and
feven millions and a half go to the benetk of the public. Hence
it is that the Kings of Spain call thefe flocks, in their ordinances,
'The Precious JezueJ of the Crozvn. I\)r-
X 2
3IO A TREATISE on CATTLE.
" Special ordinances, privileges, and immunities
are ifliied for the better prefervation and govern-
ment of the fheep, which are under the care of
twenty-five thoufand men, who, as the Spaniards
exprefs it, cloath kings in fcarlet, and bifhops in
purple.
" Thefe fheep pafs the fummer in the cool moun-
tains of Leo, Old Cjiflile, Cuen9a, and Arragon.
The firfl thing the fhepherd does when the flock,
returns from the fouth to its fummer-downs, is to
give the 'fheep as much fait as they will eat. Eve-
ry owner allows his flock of a thoufand fheep
twenty-five quintals of fait, which the flock eat
in about five months : they eat none in their jour-
ney, nor in. their winter-walk. It is believed,
that if they fliinted their fheep of this quantity,
it would weaken their confl:itutions, and degrade
their wool. The fhepherd places fifty or fixty flat
fl:ones at about five fteps difl:ance from each
Formerly, this jewel was really fet in the crown ; for a fuccef-
fion of many kings were lords of all the flocks : thence that great
number of ordinances, penal laws, privileges, and immunities
which iffued forth in different reigns for the prefervatiofi and fpc-
cial government of the flieep. Hence a royal commifllon was
formed under the title of The Council of the grand royal flock,
which exifls to this day, though the King has not a fingle fheep.
Various exigencies of Itate, indifferent reigns, alienated by de-
grees the whole grand flock from the crown, together with all its
privileges, which were coUefled and publiflied in the year 1731 ,
under the tide of " Laws of the royal Flock ;" in a large folio,
of above five hundred pages.
The wars and wants of Philip the Firft's reign, forced that
King to fell forty thoufand flieep to the Marquis of Iturbieta,
which was the laft flock of the crown.
Ten thoufand fheep conipofe a flock, which is divided into ten
tribes- One man has the conduct of all. He mult be the owner
of four or five hundred flieep, ftrong, adtive, vigilant, intelli-
gent in pafture, in the weather, and in the difeafes of llieep
He hasabfolute dominion over fifty fhephcrds and fifty dogs, five
of each to a tribe. He choofesthem, and chaftifesor difcharges
them at will. He is the pfepojitus, or chief fliepherd of the
whole flock.
" Other ;
SHEEP. 211
"* other ; he ftrews fait upon each ftone ; he leads
■' the flock llowly through the ft ones, and every
•' Iheep eats to his liking. What is very remarka-
'' ble the flieep never eat nor defire a grain of fait
'' when they are feeding on land which lies on lime-
" ftone : and as the fhepherd muft not fuffer them
^' to be too long without fait, he leads them to a fpot
'' of clayey foil, and after a quarter of an hour's
^' feeding there, they march back to the ftones and
'* devour the fait. So fenfible are they of the difFe-
" rence, that if they meet with a fpot of mixed foil,
" which often happens, they eat fait in proportion +.
*' Towards the latter end of July, the rams are
" turned in among the tribe of ewes, regulated at
*' fix or feven rams for every hundred ewes ; and
'' when the fhepherd judges that thefe have been
'' ferved, he colledls the rams into a feparate tribe to
*' feed apart. There is alfo another tribe of rams
'' which feed apart, and never ferve the ewes, but
*' are kept folely for their wool and for the butchery :
'' for though the wool and flefh of wethers are finer
'' and more delicate than thofe of rams, yet the
'V fleece of a ram weighs more than the fleece of a
'' wether, who is likewife ftiorter-lived than the
"" ram : for thefe reafons there are but few wethers
" in the royal flock of Spain. The fleeces of three
" rams generally weigh twenty-five pounds ; and
" there muft be the wool of four wethers, and- that
" of five ewes, to make an equal weight. There is
" the fame difproportion in their lives, which depend
*' on their teeth : for when thefe fail, they cannot
" bite the grafs, and are of courfe condemned to
" the knife. The ewe's teeth begin to fail after five
" years of age, the wether's after fix, and thofe of
" the robuft ram not till tov/ards eight.
-f- This fliews how favourable for flieep thofe paftures are which
lie on lime-ftone, or chalk, as moft in England do ; for in the
fouth of this ifland there is chalk alinort every where, and linie-
ftone abounds in the north-weft.
X A. " At
312, A TREATISE on CATTLE.
" At the latter end of September they put on the
*■' redding or ocre, which is a ponderous irony
" earth, common in Spain : the fhepherd diflohes
" it in water, and dawbs the backs of the fheep with
" it from the neck to the rump. It is an old cuf-
" torn. Some fay it mixes with the greafe of the
*' wool, and fo becomes a varnifh impenetrable ro
" the rain and cold ; others, that it's weight keeps
" the wool down, and thereby hinders it from gro\v-
*' ing long and coarfe ; and others again, that it
" adls as an abforbent earth, and receives part of tlfe
" tJanfpiration, which would foul the wool, and
*' render it harfli.
" Likewife in the latter end of September the
*' fheep begin their march towards the low plains.
" Their itinerary is marked out by immemorial cuf-
" torn, and by ordinances. Their journies are of-
*' ten fo long, that the poor creatures go fix or fe-
*' ven leagues a day to get into open wilds, where
" the fhepherd walks flow, to let them feed at their
*' eafe and reft : but they never ftop ; they have no
" day of repofe ; they march at leaft two leagues a
" day, conftantly following the fhepherd, till they
" get to their journey's end. From the territory
".called the Montana, at the e:xtremity of OldCaf-
*' tile, fr.Qm whence they fet out, to Eftremadura,
" is an >^ndred and fifty leagues, which they
*' march iti lefs than forty days. The chief (hep-
" herd's firft care is to fee that each tribe is condud;-
" ed to the fame diftridl it fed in the year before,
*' and .where the flieep were yeaned, which they
f think prevents a variation in the wool -, though
*' this requires but little care ; for it is a known
" tfuth, that the fheep would go to that very fpot
" of their own accord. His next care is to fix the
*' toils X (in England hurdles) where the fheep pafs
% The toils are made of Sparto, in mefhes a foot wide, and
the thicknefs of a fingfer. §paito is a fort of rufh which bears
"twiftinginto ropes for coafting veiTels. It is fo light As to fVirh ;
whereas hemp finks. The Eneltfh failors call itbofs. ■■ ~
" the
SHEEP. 313
the night, left they fhould ftray, and fall into the
jaws of wolves,
" Next comes the time when the ewes begin to
drop their lambs, which is the moft toilfome and
moft folicitous part of the paftoral life. The
fhepherds firft cull out the barren from pregnant
ewes, which laft are conduded to the beft fhelter,
and the others to the bleakeft part of the diftrid.
As the lambs fall, they are led apart with their
dams to another comfortable fpot. A third divi-
fion is made of the laft-yeaned lambs, for whom
was allotted from the beginning the moft fertile
part, the beft foil, and the fweeteft grafs of the
down, in order that they may become as vigor-
ous as the firft -yeaned ; for they muft all march
on the fame day tov/ards their fummer-quarters.
The ftiepherds perform four operations upon all
the lambs about the fame time in the month of
March -, viz. they cut off their tails five inches
below thd rump, for cleanlinefs ; they mark them
on the nofe with a hot iron ; they faw off part of
'their horns, that the rams mav neither hurt one
another nor the ewes ; and they emafculate the
lambs intended for bell-weathers to walk at the
head of the tribe.
As foon as April comes, the fheep exprefs, by-
various uneafy motions, a ftrong defire to return
to their fummer-habitations. The ftiepherds muft
then exert all their vigilance to prevent their
efcaping ; for it has often happened that a tribe
has ftolen a forced march of three or four leagues
upon a drowfy ftiepherd ; and there are many ex-
amples of three or four ftrayed ftieep walking a
hundred leagues to the very place they fed on the
year before.
" In the fummer ftieep- walks I learnt that the
three following opinions ftiould be ranked among
vulgar errors :
I. That falt-fprings are not found in the high
mountains but in the low hills and plains only.
" —The
314 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
— The whole territory of Molina is full of falt-
fprings, and there is a copious one rifing out of
land higher than the fource of the Tagus, and
not farfrom it; which is one of thehighefl lands in"
all the inward parts of Spain.
2. That metallic vapours deftroy vegetation ;
and that no rocks nor mountains pregnant with
rich veins of ore are covered with rich vegetable
foils. ' There are many iron, copper, lead, and
pure pyritous ores in thefe iheep-walks, where
grow the fame plants, and the fame fweet grafs,
as in the other parts.
3. That fheep eat and love aromatic plants ;
" and that the flerfi of thofe that feed on the hills
" where fweet herbs abound has a fine tafte. — I
" have obferved, that when the lliepherd made a
" paufe, and let the fheep feed at their will, they
*' fought only for fine grafs, and never touched any
" aromatic plant , that when the creep'mg ferpillum
*' was interwoven with the grafs, they induflriouf-
" ly nofled it afide to bite a blaid of grafs ; and that
" this trouble foon made them feek out a pure gra-
" mineous fpot. I obferved too, when the fhep-
" herd perceived a threatening cloud, and gave a
" fignal to the dogs to colledl the tribe and then go
*' behind it, walking apace himfelf to lead the flieep
*' .to fhelter, that, as they had no time to ftoop,
" they would take a fnap of flaechas, rofemary, or
" any other fhrub in their way : for fheep will eat
" any thing when they are hungry, or when they
" walk faft. I faw them greedily devour henbane,
" hemlock, glaucium,. and other naufeous weeds,
" upon their ifTue out of the fheering-houfe II.
" The
tl Mr. Collinfon's correfpondent obferves very juftly on tl.k
occafion, that if flieep loved aromatic plants, it w^ould be one
of the greateft misfortunes that could befall the farmers of Spain ;
for that the number there is incredibly great, and the bees fuck all
their honey, and gather all their wax, from the aromatic flow^ers
which
SHEEP. 315
" "7^^ fhepherd*s chief care now is, not to fuf-
■' fer the flieep to go out rj their toils till the morn-
■' ing-fun has exhaled tire dew of a white froft, and
" never to let them aipproach a rivulet or pond af-^'
" ter a fhower of hail ; for if they fhould eat the
" dewy grafs, or drink hail-water, the whole tribe
" would become melancholy, lofe all appetite, pine
"" away and die; of which there have been frequent
" inftances*.
" The fheep of Andalufia, which never trave],
*' have coarfe, long, hairy wool. I faw fome in
" Eflremadura whofe wool trailed on the ground,
*' The itinerant (heep have fhort, filky, white wool;
" the finenefs of which is owing to the animal's paf-
*' fmg its life in the open air, of equal temperature;
*' for it is not colder in Andalufia or Eftremadura
*' in the winter, than it is in the Montana or Mo-
" lina in fummer. Conftant heat, or conftant cold,
'' with hcufing, are the caufes of coarfe, fpeckled,
" black wool : and I do believe, from a few expe-
"' riments and long obfervation, that if the fine-
'' woolled fheep flayed at home in the winter, their
■*' wool would become coarfe in a few generations ;
** and on the other hand, that if the coarfe woolled
*' Ibeep travelled from climate to climate, and lived
which enamel and perfume two thirds of the fheep-walks. — He
^fTures us, that he himfelf knew a pariiK-prieft who had five
thoufand hives, and whofe method was cautioufly to feize the
queens in a fmall crape fly-catch, and then clip otf their wings,
'i^his obliged their niaj.llies to ftay at home ; and he declared,
that he n^ver had loll a fwarm from the day of his difcovery to
the time of his relating this, which was five years. — I mention
this circiimftar.ee the more readily, becaufe I do not recolleft
having noticed ii in my Treatife on the management of Bees^
where it ought to have been.
* Hail-water is likewife fo pernicious to men in the climate.
hi;re fpoken of, that the people of Molina will not drink their
ii -.'er-v.'ater after a violent fhower of hail ; experience has taug ht
them the danger : but let it be never fo muddy, and rife never ^o
high after rain, they drink it without fear. — Perhaps this may
|)e the unheeded caufe of many epidemics in other cities.
. " in
31 6 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
*' in the free air, their wool \yould become^ fine,
fhort, and filky llkewife in a few generations.
*' All the animals that I know of, who live in the
" open air, conftantly keep up to th*e colour of their
*' fires. There are the moft beautiful brindled fheep
"in the world among the coarfe-wooUed Ihecp of
Spain. I never faw one among the fine-wooUed
" flocks : the free but lefs abundant perfpiration in
the open air, is fwept away as faft as it flows ;
whereas it is greatly increafed .by the exceffiye
*' heat of numbers of fheep houfed all night in a
^' narrow place. It fouls the wool, makes it hairy,
and changes it's colour. — The Swine of Spain,
" who pafs their lives in the woods, are all of one
*' colour, as the wild boars. They have fine, fil-
*' ky, curled briftles. Never did a Spanifh hog*s
" briflle pierce a fhoe. — What a quantity of dander
" is daily fcoured from the glands of a fl:abled horfe;,
" the curry-comb and hair-cloth ever in hand ! How
" clean is the Ikin of a horfe that lives in the open
air !
The fhepherds begin to fhecr their fheep on
" the firft of May, provided the weather be fair :
" for if the wool were not quite dry, the fleeces,
" which are clofe piled one upon another, would
*' rot. It is for this reafon that their fheering-houfes
*' are furprizingly fpacious. I faw fome large enough
" to contain twenty thoufand fheep in bad weather,
*■'■ and which coflabovefive thoufand pounds fl:erling.
*' Befides, the ewes are creatures of fuch tender
*' conflitutions, that if they were expofed immedi-
" ately after fheering, they would all perifh.
" An hundred and twenty-five fheermen are em-
" ployed to Iheer a flock of ten thoufand fheep.
*' One man fheers twelve ewes a day, and but eight
" rams. The reafon of this difference is, not only
*' becaufe the rams have larger bodies, fl:ronger,
" aud more wool ; but alfo becaufe the fheermen
" dare not tie their feet as they do thofe of the un-
" refiftinor
SHEEP. ^17
'* irefifllng ewes. Experience having taught, that
" the bold rebellious ram will ftruggle, even to lul-
" focation, when held captive under the (beers, they
'* gently lay him down, ftroke his belly, and be-
" guile him out of his fleece. A certain number of
" Sleep are led into the great fhelter-houfe, which
'' is a parallelogram of four or five hundred feet
'' long and an hundred wide, where they remain all
** night, crowded as dofe together as the fhepherd
*' can keep them, that they may fweat plentifully,
" which, fay they, foftens the wool for the fheers,
" and oils their edges. They are led by degrees, in
" the morning, into the fpacious flieering-hall,
" vhich joins the fweat ing-room. The fhep-
" herd carries them off asfaft as they are fhorne, to
".■be marked with tar : and as this operation is ne-
'.'•ceilarily performed upon orily one at a time, it
" gives ,a fair opportunity to the fliepherds to
". cull out for the butchery all the fheep of the flock
" .who have outlived their teeth. The fheered fheep
" go to the fields to feed a little if it be fine weather,
Y' and they return in the evening to pafs the night
*^^in the. yard before thehoufe, within the fhelter of
^- the v/alls; but if it be cold and cloudy, they go
" into the houfe, and are thus brought by degrees
" to bear the open ait"
The above, or a fimilar pra(flice, might be fol-
lowed to. advantage by the counties which border on
Wales, or on the Grampian hills in Scotland : for in
both thofe countries there is fummer-pafl:ure for a
much ^eater number of cattle than they can main-
tain in the winter. In both, the paflure is not only
dry and healthy for fheep, but they v/ould likewifc
thereby avoid the great fummer-heats to which they
are at times expofed, even in this moderate climate.
In dry and high grounds, where the herbage is
thick and fine, the iheep are much more healthy,
and their flefh is of a mucli finer flavour than that
of thofe. which are fed in moifl vallies and low plains ;
• ■ ' -1 unlefs
31 S A TREATISE on CATTLE.
unlefs thofe vales be fandy, or very dry, or near the
fea. Thefe laft are, indeed, the beft of all, becaufe
the herbage there is naturally fprinkled with fait. Al~
fo the ewes fed on them yield more milk, and of a
better tafte.
Sheep fhould not, if poffible, be fufFered to feed
on low moift grounds, or fuch as have been lately
drained, unlefs thefe are become very dry ; and
even then it fhould be only ki the middle of the day.
Grounds over which mineral or hard waters run are al-
fo prejudicial to them ; as is likewife grafs in whicli
the webs or eggs of grafs-hoppers, or other infeds,
are found -, or in which the dung of rats or field-
mice lies. When fheep are forced to feed on fuch
paflures, it is advifeable to rub their mouths fre-
quently with fait, and to have fait laid for them in
veffels, where they will greedily lick it one after ano-
ther ; for they are remarkably fond of fait, and no-
thing is more healthful when given in moderation.
The world is greatly indebted to the celebrated
Linnaeus for the enquiry which he has excited in
regard to fuch plants as are agreeable or hurtful to
each domeftic animal. He hasobferved, inadiifer-
tation intitled Pan Sneciis {b)^ that fheep eat 387 forts
of Swedilh herbs and plants -, and that they leave
141 of them untouched, as being hurtful, or lefs
nourifhing, and therefore lefs fuitable to their nature.
' — A fimilar account of our Englifh plants might be
of great fervice to our hufbandmen and owners of
land, efpecially to fuch as are concerned in grazing.
Among other interefting obfervations, Linnaeus
remarks (t), that the milfoil, or yarrow, is a food
which fheep are particularly fond of; and I have
been told by a gentleman who had been at much
pains to clear his ground of this plant, that having
turned fome Hieep into a field where there yet remain-
ed a good deal of it, he was greatly furprifed at
(b) Page 387. (c) Pan Suecus, page 9$.
finding
.SHEEP. 319
finding the next day that the flieep had fcarcely left a
plant of it, but had eaten it quite down to the
ground. He thea lamented his former induftry, and
laid down as an eafy rule, by which every one may
Judge what plants are mofl agreeable to the dfferent
animals, to obferve which are thofe that they prefer
on being turned into a frefh pafture, or what are the
plants in common paftures which the creatures feed-
ing there never fufFer to raife to feed. Thus the
milfoil never runs to feed but in places where
Iheep cannot get at it. It is the fame with the
chamomile, though fo bitter a plant, and with the
narrow-leaved plantain or ribwort. Thefe plants
have another advantage attending them with regard
to llieep, which is, that as they ftrike deep roots they
retain their verdure the longer, and therefore deferve
to be carefully cultivated by thofe who have flocks of
fheep.
Burnet has, on all occafions, been found to be pe-
culiarly pleafing and healthful to fheep. An inftance
of it's being both happened to a gentleman of my
acquaintance in the year 17661 the fummer of which
being extremely wet, fheep in general were much
afBidled with the rot. This gentleman, very atten-
tive to rural oeconomy, bought fome fheep in the
autumn of that year, which he put into a field of
burnet, and killed them during the winter, as his-
family-con fumption required. Every one of them
v/as found to be in a perfedlly found ftate ; whilft
every fheep belonging to a neighbouring gentleman,
and which had been part of the fame flock, which
was Welfh, was difeafed. It was very remarkable
too in thefe laft iheep, that, though they had plenty
of grafs and turnips, they could not be confined j
but the moment they were put into the field of bur-
net belonging to the former gentleman, tb.ey be-
came perfe6tly quiet, and never endeavoured to ftir
from thence, though the gate was left open.
The
520 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
The common opinion that fheep hurt kicerne in
the autumn by biting it too clofe, is without founda-
tion ; for the fpring-fhoots have no communication
with thofe that remained in the autumn, but are
quite frefh (hoots iflliing from the crown of the root.
Lucerne is an excellent food for all fheep in the au-
tumn, and particularly fo for ewes and lambs in the
fpring.
Clover is a very fucculent food for (heep, and
thefe creatures are extremely fond of itj but if the
fliepherd is not attentive, it may prove dangerous to
them. He fhould always turn them into the clover
with their backs to the wind, and not leave them
too long in it. It is faid by fome, that the wind
mixing with the clover, which they fwallow greedi-
ly, fwells them, and makes them die in a few hours :
others believe that it is the venom of the reptils which
this plant attracfls, that occafions thefe pretty fre-
quent accidents : but, in truth, the caufe of this
1 welling is undoubtedly the fame as was before aflign-
ed for the hoving of cattle ; and accordingly the re-
medy direfted for it by the Royal Society of Agri-
culture at Rouen is, as foon as this misfortune is per-
ceived to have happened to fome of the flock, to
throw cold water over their bodies, if it be at hand,
or to pen them up fo clofely as to make them prefs
ftrongly one againft another. This will reftore
them to their natural ftate.
Sheep likewife readily eat turnips, and thrive up-
on them, when they have been accuftomed to them
early ; but they do not relifh this food when it has
not been offered to them till after they are grown-
old ; however, if they are kept falling two or three
days, moll of them take to it ; and when they have
once tafted it, they bccorhe fond of it, and feed ve-
ry kindly upon it. In fome places people feed their
Iambs with turnips till the middle of Apnl, though
they then begin to run up to feed. Some parboil
them a little at firfl:, till their cnttle, and particular-
Iv
SHEEP. 321
Iv their flieep, are acciiftomed to them : but a lamb
cnly three weeks old will, after it has once eaten of
this food, fcoop out a raw twrnip with great delight.
Pp.rlley corre(::"ts the inconveniencies which may arife
from the too-great moiflure and coldnefs of the tur-
nips, and iherefc^re Ihould be given them in plenty
when they are fed upon this root. The fheep alio
are fond of it.
Caiiois are another excellent food for fheep, and
thefe creatures are remarkably fond of them. One
acre of thefe roots, well planted, will fatten a greater
number of fheep, or bullocks, than three acres of
turnips, and their flelli will be firmer and better raft-
ed. Parfnips are alfo another excellent and profita-
ble food for them.
It is a cuftom in moft countries, efpecially where
the verdure of the grafs is not fo conftant as in Bri-
tain and Ireland, to collect the leaves of trees during
the fummer, or before they turn yellow, for feeding
all kinds of cattle, and particularly fheep ; and when
thefe are mixed with their hay, they have a good
efFedl. Straw, efpecially of oats, cut and mixed
with their hay, is alfo recommended during the win-
ter. The bark of the branches of the fig-tree, and
it's buds, are likewife mixed with their hay in coun-
tries where that tree abounds.
It is undoubtedly moft healthy for fneep to range
at large ; but as that is not in the power of every one,
thev fhould at leaft be kept as airy as polTible.
We are fo happy in the mildnefs of our climate
in England, and in our fafety from wolves, that cur
flieep lie out of doors all the year. Yet I cannot
help thinking that they would be greatly benefited if
there were at leaft ftieds under which they might re-
treat in ftormy weather : for though fheep are well
cloathed by nature, yet when the rain is fo conftant
iind heavy as to foak through their fleeces, they be-
come quite chilled, and that damp cold in them is
frequently the caufe of many diforders. It is faid,
Y tha4:
322 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
that when they areenclofed in the narrow compafs of
a fold, they cherifh one another by their mutual
\yarmth : but this cannot give relief to the damp
which each of them feels.
In climates lefs fortunately circumflanced than
ours, the fheep are houfed in winter, and fed chiefly
with dry fodder. They are led out every day, unlefs
the \';eaLh'3r be very bad, though this is rather co
air and walk than to feed them. In winter it fliould be
near ten in the morning before they are led out, and
they fiiould be brought back again early in the even-
ing, after having had an opportunity of drinking. In
fpring and autumn they are led to paflure as foon as
the fun has difperfed the hoar-froft or dew on the.
grafs, and continued there till fun-fet. It is fuffici-
ent that they drink once a day in thefe feafons ; and
when brougiit back they llaould find fodder, though
in lefs quantity than in winter. It is only during the
fummer-months that they can live entirely on the paf-
tures, and they fhould then have water in their pow-
er twice a day. . They may in this (eafon be let out
early in the morning -, and in very warm weather they
fhould be led to cool or fliadowy places during the
mid-day heat, wliich is found to be remarkably pre-
judicial, difordering their lieads, and throwing them
into vertigoes. In very hot countries, Columella ad- .
vifes, that they be led in the morning fo that their
backs be turned to the fun, and in the evening fo
that the head may be fliaded by the body.
Many people doubt whether it be more profitable
to fold fheep, than it is to let them range a field at
large both night and day ; on the principle that their
dung and urine are in either cafe pretty equally fpread
over the furface of the ground. Cullom has, how-
ever, given it in fa\our of folding ; and I believe it
will be found, that if equal numbers of fheep are
confined during the fame time in two fields, that in
which they are folded will be the moft effectually
and
SHEEP. 3^3
and nioft regularly dunged ; and therefore I muft
incline to prefer folding.
In the heat of f.immer, the fold lliould be large
enough to admit of the fheep lying at a moderate
vllllance from each other ; for, even in the open air,
a great heat is generated by the fheep when forced
to be clofe together ; and more than an ordinary de-
gree of warrinh Ihould be avoided at all times. As
the w^cathcr becomes colder, the extent of the fold
may be diminilhed ; but fpecial care fhould be ta-
ken never to pitch it in a damp place, particularly
in rainy weather, or winter ; for nothing is fo preju-
dicial to flietp as their being laid wet. On this ac-
count it is that in Sweden, fmce the late regulations
there, they have in fome provinces a kind of covered
fold going upon wheels, fo that it can be moved from
one place to another : and I am perfuaded, that
if this practice was introduced into England, efpe-
cially in rich low paftures, a confiderable advantage
would attend it, particularly in preventing the rot
and purging which fheep are liable to in wet wea-
ther.
Where the great degree of cold, or any other
caufe, renders it necefiary to houfe fheep in the win-
ter, their cotes fhould be built on a dry fpot ; the
fhccp ihould have fufficient room in them, and open-
ings fhould be made in the upper parts to carry off
the heated air : they fhould not, on any account, be
made too warm, nor fhould the dung and litter ever
be fuffered to rife too high in them. The racks for
the flieep fliouid never be fixed to the wall, but
hang from the roof, fo that they may be^aifed or.
lowered at pleafurc. They fhould never hang too ,
high ; becaufe when the fheep are obliged to raife
their heads too much, little bits of their food are apt
to fall among their wool, which diey intangle, and
alfojn their eyes, v/here they bring on inflammati-
ons, and fometimes blindncfs. The rack fhould
dierefore not be higher than the flanks of the flieep.
Y z The
324 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
The roof of the cote fliould be covered with laths
rather than with flraw, or other fuch material, be-
caufe the duft, chaff, or infers falling from thefe
lafl would damage the wool. Spiders efpecially are
very hurtful to fheep. The Swedes are fo particular-
ly careful in this refpedt, that they even white-wafli
the walls of their fheep-cotes.
When the winters are very fevere, or the fheep are
in great danger from ravenous animals, it becomes
neceffary to lodge them in houfes, or cotes, during
the winter {d). Such cotes fhould be built in dry and
airy places, free from fprings, and from the coming
in of water any other way. Whilfl tlie fheep are
houfed, great care fhould be taken that the cotes be
not kept fo clofe as to render tlie air in them too
warm, and that the fheep have very fufticient room
to lie down. In order to fecure them frcm too much
heat, the beft way of admitting a fupply of frefli air
will perhaps be by windows in each end, near the
roof- for it is known that the heated and putrid air
afcends, and therefore it will bedifcharged by thefe
windows ; for there will be a conftant current of air
from the one to the other, as the wind fhall happen
to fet. The fheep will, by this means, be kept cool,
without having openings through which the wind
v/ould blow upon their bodies partially, and thereby
occafion coughs and colds, as every one can tefuify
from his own experience.
The proportion of fpace which Mr. Haflfer, an
ingenious Swede, advifes (e) as a rule in building
thefe fheep-cotes, is to allow fix feet fquare for each
fheep* y the height fhould be proportioned to the ex-
tent of the building, and to the number of fheep ;
but there mufl be at leafl ten feet between the floor
{d) Memoires de la Societe Royale d'JIgricultttre de Rouen, torn. ii.
(e) Manicre d'elever les Bctejd Lainc, Part ii. c. z. §. 2.
* Three Swedilli ells, fays he, vvblch make very near fix of
our feet ; the Swedilli cH being exaftlv 23 3^ inches Englifli
meafure. '°°°
and
SHEEP. 325
?.nd the roof, fo that when the depth of dung and
Ibaw (hall amount to four feet, there may ftill re-
main an heigl't of f x feet for the heat to afcend in :
for vvlicn the hot cxI alations of the fheep have not
lufncient room to afcend, they return back, and fall
upon tlie kings of the fheep, open their pores, and
make them fweat more than ever. Confequently
great care fliould always be taken to m.ake thefe
buildings high enough, and large enough to prevent
fuch immoderate heat, t
A cote twenty feet long fhould be ten feet high ;
that is the proportion for fmall cotes : but to twenty
feet more in length there muft always be added two
feet more in height ; that Is to fay, that for forty feet
of length there mull be twelve feet of height, and
fo in proportion for larger fizes. — The breadth is ge-
neraljy half of the length : that is the beft fymme-
trical proportion, and gives the greatefl flrength to
the roof : though Mr. Hatsfer would have them ra-
ther exceed the above dimenfions in point of height,
becaufe that contributes greatly to keep the air purer
than it would otherwife be, and nearer to the tem-
perature of a cool fummer's day, or a fine clear day
in autumn, which is the degree of warmth m.oft to
bedefired, and that for the following reafons in par-
ticular :
^' I . In the fpring, when the cold is greater abroad
than in the cote, it is v/rong to keep the cote too
warm, becaufe the fudden change from heat to cold
is too fenfibly felt by the fheep, has an influence on
their blood, and necelfarily aflfedts their flrength and
health.
" 2. In winter, the flieep, by pafling fuddenly
from hot to cold, and from cold to hot, cannot but
get coughs.
-f- A cote twenty feet fquare is large enough for thirty flieep ;
and a cote fixty feet long and thirty teet wide Is fufficient for an
hundred and fifty flxeep, including rams and lambs. Anyone
may of courfe form his calculation from hence. Hastfer.
Maniae d'ilevcrles Bites a Laine. Part ii.
• Y 3 " 5- It
Sz6 A TREATISE on CATTLE,
" 3. It is plain, mat if too great perfpiration is
hurtful to fheep in fummer, when frelh grafs gives-
them the moft ftrengih, it mull be much more fo in
winter, when they eat only dry hay, or even Itraw,
which affords them lefs flrengtli, and lefs nourirti-
ment ; efpecially as the heat, which ought to pre-
vent, or at leaft moderat-e, the bad effects of the
fuperfluous hum.ours, is at the fame lime evaporated
and wafted.
" 4. The heat v/hich penetrates through the pores
into the grofs winter's wool, makes it grow too m.uch :
now this wool is not only of lefs vahie than the other
good wool which the fheep is to keep till (hearing-
time ; but it falls off of it's own accord as foon as
the flieep pafs from the cote into the cold fpring-air ;
and then this lofs of their wool caufes illneffes in
thejn, and even death.
" The floor of the flieep-cote fhould be paved
cither with flones, or with bricks or clinkers, and
raifed a little archwife in the middle, in order that
the urine of the fheep may run off eafily on all fides
through fmall holes made for that purpofe at the bot-
tom of the building. Some cover this floor with"
earth, and others with fand, to the depth of five or
fix inches, in order that the urine of the fheep may
foak into it, and thereby render it fit for manuring of
land. — The floor itfelf may indeed be made of fand,
as is the pradice of fome; and in that cafe, inftead
of raifmg it in the middle, it fliould be fome- what
lower there, in order that the urine may penetrate
thoroughly into the fand ; and when it is fufficiently
impregnated, it is covered Avith new fand, or thrown
out of the cote with the dung of the Iheep, and laid
up, in a heap for manure,
" It is likewife to be obferved, tliat of whatever
height the cote may be, the dung in it fliould never
be fuffered to increafe to more than four feet deep :
for which reafon th.^ fides of the cote fhould be lin-
ed with wood to that height in the infide. The cote
fhould
SHEEP. 327
IhoiiM be more or lefs high in proportion to the num-
ber of llieep kept in it -, for by this means the heat
will be more or lefs great, as it will rife to a greater or
lefs heiglit.
" [n whate'/er manner the fioor of the cote is
made, it fhould always be covered with frefli flraw
before the fheep are put into it ; as well for their
pleafure as for their health. By this means too their
wool is preferved from filth ; and when the floor is'
made of wood, as is alio the way of fome, the draw
preferves the llieep from having their Ikin or their flefh
hurt by fplinters, or their wool by turpentine in
the boards, efpecially if of deal. This draw nvid
be removed from time to time, and in fome cafes
pretty often. Care mufl like wife be taken that there
be neither fplinters nor turpentine in the fide-liningS'
towards the bottom ; for which reafon the wood ufed
there, and indeed as high as the fheep could reach
from the top of the greateft quantity of dung' that
ought to be in tlie cote, iTiould not be touched with
either axe or plane, but left in its natural round form,
with only the rough bark thoroughly peeled "off it,
jmd the wood then left for fome time to dry in the
fun, in order that all it's refmoiis parts may be exhal-
ed. Such is the method of the Swedes when they
build cotes of this kind.
*' Belides the above-mentioned windows at each
end of the cote, intended chiefly to pl^ify the air m
it, there fhould likewife be other comrrion windows
at convenient diltances in the fides of this building ;
becaufe, as was before obferved, fheep are fond of
much light, and never thrive well in dark places.'
" Their fodder fhould (land in ricks near the
cote^, and be kept as free as poflible from dull and
all other impurities. - -
" The fheep in the cote fliould be foddered iri]
cribs made for that purpofe, as well 46r tht fake, of
faving, as to prevent the falling of any thing upon
their wool i and for this reafon thefe cribs Ihould be-
Y 4 placed
328 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
placed in the middle of the cote ; for if any ha}"*
chances to fall upon the flieep, they pull off each
others wool in trying to eat it.
" The cote thus built, however fmall it be, muft
be divided into two parts at lead, in order to fepa-
rate the fick flieep, or fuch as are ready to lamb,
from thofe which are not in either of the fe cafes :
but they who would have a perfet'-l:!y complete build-
ing to houfe their flieep in, fliould di\ide it into fe-
veral compartments, in proportion to the number
and kinds of the flieep, and according to the other
circumflances attending thern. Thele compartments
may be made of whatever fize is thought mofl; pro-
per, provided t!ie flieep have but room enough in
them. — Or, which would feem to be an improvement
on Mr. Haflifer's plan, the cotes fliould rather be
built feparate, becaufe then, befides the more effec-
tual parting of them in cafe of need, each kind of
flieep will naturally go to the home where they are
fed.
*' Befidesthe above-mentioned compartments, it is
necelfary to have a moveable crib, about four feet
high, going upon four wheels of feven or eight in-
ches diameter each, to be drawn from one place to
another. The ufe of it is to bring the flieep clofe up
together in a fmall compafs, when one would either
make them fweat, or count them over. By this
means their rufebing one againfl: another, by v;hiclo
they lofe a great deal of v/ool, is avoided.
" It is likewife necefl'ary to have a fmall buildino;
feparate from the common cote or cotes, to keep
apart fuch flieep as are attacked with contagious dif-
eafes, in order that their breath may not infeCt the
others.
" As to the colour of the flieep-cote, fome would
have it to be white, or of the colour of the wood it
is built of, in oftder that the fheep big with young
may not fee in it any thing to furprize them.
' , " The
SHEEP. 329
.*t -Tlie bell covering, or roof, is that which is made
of draw or holly. The roofs made of boards are
apt to warp, and let in the air through their crevices.
.*)* Great care mull be taken to preferve the cote
free from fpiders and their webs.
" The out fide fhould be fmooth, and free irom
every kind of glutinous fubftance, at leaft as high
as the llieep can reach, lelt they fhould rub thcm-
felves againll it, and thereby tear off their wool.
" There fhould be gutters all along the lower part
of the roof to receive and carry off rain.
'' As foonas the cote is finilhed, it Ihould be fu-
migated in the infide, by burning in it hoofs or horns
o{ cattle rafped, the hair of cattle, woollen rags,
brirriilone, and boughs of juniper with their fruit
on."
Mr. Haflfer's above direclions appear to be
cliiefly calculated for a woody country : but where
Hones are plentiful, the ' walls will be beft built
with them, and tiles or flates will make proper co-
covering for the cotes.
A certain fixed time of the year cannot be obferv-
ed in ail countries forfhearing of flieep, bccaufe the
fummer does not advance equally in each of them.-
The beft way therefore is to be diretled by the wea-
the.r^ .ib that the llieep may neither fuffer by die cold
when ftripped of their wool, nor be injured duough
tf?o gceat heat by being made .to wear it too long.
After they.are fhorne, they (hould be anointed with
fomething that will deftroy any remaining vermin.
Coliimeita (/ ) recommends for this purpofe a ftrong
decodion of lupins, lees of wine, and th^ dregs of
oil, of each equal quantities, mixed together. Some
ufe a decottion of tobacco in fait water. After the
fldn.; has been foaked with one or other of thefe li-
(/) Lih. FII. c. iz'.
quors
330 A TREATISE on CATTLE,
quors for three days, the fheep (hould be walhed ia-
the fea, if near ; otherwife in water in which fait has
been boiled. • • ,
The wethers have generally more wool than'-.tr.©
ewe^, and it is alfo better. That of tht heck and
the top of the back is the prime ; that of the thisjhs,
tail, belly, throat, and head, is not fo good ; and"
the worft is that which is taken from dead beafts, or
fiich as are fick. Vv'hite wool is alfo preferred to the
grey, brown, and black, becaufe it will take any
dye. Strait wool is better than curled ; and itjs even
(aid that the fheep whofe vvool is too miich^eurled
are not in (o good a flate of health as thofe whofe
wool is ftraiter.
The general colour of fheep is a dirty white, or
pale yellow ; there are alfo many of a blackifh brown,
and not a few fpotted with a yellowifli white and
black.
The flock iTiould be examined every year, in order
to pick out fiich as begin to grow old, and are in-
tended for fattening ; for as thefe require a different
management from the others, they fhouM then be
formed into a feparate flock. They fbould be led
abroad in fummer before the riftng of the fun, that
they may feed on the grafs vvhilft it is yet moiftened
with dew ; for nothing forwards the fattening of we-
thers more than a great quantity of moiflure : and as,
on the other Hand, nothing obftmds it more than
too much heat, they fliould be brought home, or at
leaft driven to a fhady place, at about eight or nine
in the morning, before the fun begins to be too pow-
erful, and fait fliould then be given them to excite
thirft. About four in the afternoon, they fhould be
led a fecoftd time into cool and moifl places, and be
again* made to drink as much water as they can be-
fore they arc either houfed or folded at night. Two
or three months of this management will give them
all the appearance of l:cingfullof flelb : indeed they
will be fattened as muclias thev can be : but as this
fat
SHEEP. ^31
fat proceeds only from the great quantity of water
which they drink, it may properly be looked upon
us no better tlian an oedema, or bloated humour,
wliich would in a fliort time turn to the rot -, the xmly
means of preventing which is to kill them whilfl in
this ftate of fatnefs : thougli even then their flelVi,
far from being Brm and juicy, is extremely infi'pid
and flabby. To render their flefli perfedly fine and
good, they fhould, befides feeding on the dew and
drinking a great quantity of water, have at the fame
time more folid food than grafs. To this end the
ihepherd fhould alfo,. in the feafon, turn them into
tlie fields, to glean, as foon as the corn has been ta-
ken off. They may be fattened in any feafon, even
the winter not excepted, by only keeping them apart
in a llieep-cote, and feeding them with good liay^
meal, or barley, oats, wheat, beans, &:c. mixed
v/ith fdlt, to make them drink themore copioufly. But
iii whatever rnaniier, ahd in whatever feafon they are
fattened, they midv be difpofed of immediately ;
f)r they canfiot be fattened twice, and if they are
not- killed by the butcher, they will die by difeafes
of the liver. Three months are at all times fufficient
to fatten theha -but lefs will do near the fea.
Ewes-faiiteri.very faft near their pregnancy, becaufe
they th^xat more than at other times : but their
fielbv-and eipecially that of an old ewe, is flabby and
infi'pid-.i ^Thatof theram, though he has been knit
K^forfe . fattening, is always rank and ill-flavoured.
The'fl^.fn of the wether is by far the mofl: fucculent,
'dnd the^ bell: of all common meats.
Tlie proper time for cafbration is when the lambs
are five or fix montlis old, and the weather mild.
The bell: way of performing this operation is by in-
cifion. The tefl:icles, which are eafily feparated
from the bag, are tlien drawn out at the wound, and
cut off. The lamb v/ill probably be fick and dull
for a little while after the cafl:ration, and therefore it
will not be improper to give him for two or three
days
332 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
days a fmall quantity of fait, to prevent a lofs of ap-
petite, which this operation often occafions. ;vv
The antients tell us that all ruminating animals
have fuet ;,but this is ftridlly true only of the goat
and fheep, and that of the llieep is in greater quan-
tity, whiter, drier, firmer, and of a better quality
than the other. Fat differs from fuet, in that it con-
tinues always foft ; whereas fuet hardens as it grows
cold. It is chiefly about the kidneys that the (iiet is
found i and, as was before obferved of the horned
cattle, the left has always more of it than the right.
There is alfo a great deal of it in the cawl, and about
the Inteftines -, but this fuet is far Icfs firm and good
than that of the kidneys, the tail, and other parts of
the body. Wethers have no other fat than fuet ; and
fo predominant is this fat in their conftitution, that
all the extremities of their flefh are covered with it.
Their very blood is not without it ; and the feminal
lymph is fo faturated with it, as to appear of a differ-
ent confiftence from that of other animals.
CHAP
SHEEP. S33
CHAP. III.
Of the Pjopa^dtioH cf Sheep.
THE ram is capable of generating at eighteen
months, and a ewe may yean at the end of
a year : but it is better to ftay till the ewe be two,
and the ram three years old ; for the produce of
thefe, if too early, or even the firft at any time, is
always weak, and of a bad conftitution. One good
ram will fufiice for twenty-five or thirty ewes.
The qualities required in a good ram are, that he
be ftrong and comely : his head muft be large and
thick ; his forehead broad, round, and well riling -,
Jiis eyes large and black -, his nofe fhort ; his neck
thick, and arched like that of a fine horfe 9 his body
long and raifed ; his flioulders, back, and ramp
broad ; his teflicles large, and his tail long ; his legs
fmall, fhort, and nimble ^ he muft alfo have horns ;
for thofe which have not any, as is the cafe of fome,
are very indifferent creatures for breeding, at leafl
in climates like our's. The beft rams are white,
with a large quantity of wool on the belly, tail,
head and ears, quite down to the eyes ; and parti-
cular care fhould be taken that neither the mouth nor
tongue be either black or fpeckled, becaiife the wool
of the lambs would mod probably partake of this de-
fed.
The beft ewes for propagation are thofe which
have mofl wool, and that clofe, long, filky, and
white i efpecially if they have alfo a large body, a
thick neck, and an eafy, light gait.
The natural feafon of the ewe's heat is from the
beginning of November to the end of April ^ but
they
S3^ A TREATISE on CATTLE.
they may be brought to conceive in any fcafon, by
giving them provocative foods, fuch as bread made
of hemp-feed, or oatmeal, oil cakes, &:c. and
water in which fait has been diluted. Each ewe
fliould be covered three or four times, and then fe-
parated from the r?m, which always prefers the old-
er fh.eep, and negleds the younger. In the feafon
of copulation, they fhould not be expofed to rain or
bad weather ; wet hindering their retention, and a
clap of thunder often producing abortion. In a day
or two after they have been covered, they fliould
be returned to tlieir common diet, and not have
any more fblt-vvater ; becaufe the continual ufe of
this, as well as that of hemp-feed bread, or other
hot aliments, would infallibly caufe abortion : but
they may always be given to the ram for fome time
before he is put to the ewe. Ewes go live months,
and yean at the beginning of the fixdi. They fel-
dom bring more than one lamb at a time. In hot
climates they yean twice a year, but in colder coun-
tries only once. Thofc which are rather lean tlian
fat, bring forth moft eafily.
Some put the ram to their ewes about the end cf
July, or the beginning of Auguft, in order to have
lamibs at Chriflmias, or early in January : but then
they run a hazard of the lambs being deftroyed by
the cold, for they are extremely tender creatures.
However, the ram is given to the much greater num-
ber in the months of September, Ocftober, and No-
vember ; and larnbs are accordingly to be had in plen-
ty in February, March and April. They are alio
to be had in May, June, July, Auguft, and Sep-
tember ; there being no fcarcity of them but in Oc-
tober, November, and December.
When a ewe is near yeaning, flie muft be fepa-
rated from the flock, and carefully watched, in or-
der to her being affifted, if needful ; for the Iamb
often prefentsitfeifcrofs-wife, or with it's feet fore-
mod.
SHEEP. 335
niofl, and in eitlicr of- thcle cafes tlie ewe's life would
be in ckngGr ifilie were not helped. As foon as the
lanib is yeaned, it nniil be railed on it's feet, and
at the fame time all the milk in the ewe's udder fhould
bedravv'.n out, becaufe it is vitiated, and would be
very ooxious to tlie lamb, which mull therefore be
kept from fucking till die udder is repleniflied with
frcl"h milk. The lamb mufl be kept warm, and
fliould be fhut up with it's dam for three or four
days, that it may learn to know her. During this
time, die ewe iliouid be fed with good hay,
bade) -meal, or bian mixed with a little fait;
and her drink fhculd be water, the chill
of which has been taken off, mixed with a little
flour, bean-meal, or ground millet. At the end of
four or five days (he may be gradually brought back
to the fame kind of food as the otlier fheep, and
be returned to the flock -, only taking care that fhe
be not driven too faft, nor too far, lefl: her milk
fhould be heated : and tome time . after, when the
fucking lamb ihall have gatliered ftrength, and be-
gins to play, it may be left to follow it's dam to the
paftures; no farther care being then neceflary -, for
it will find it's dam am.idft a very numerous flock,
and feize her dug, without ever being miflaken.
Lambs yeaned between the beginning of Octo-
ber and end of February mufl: be kept in the houfe
on account of the cold, and be fuffered to go out
only in the morning and evening to fuck ; but in the
beginning of April they may be turned into the open
fields. Some time before this is done, a little grafs
fhould be given them daily, in order to accuflom
them by degrees to this new food. They may be
weaned at the end of one month -, but it is better
to let them continue to fuck for fix weeks or t\\t>
months.
The largefl, moil vigorous, and thickeft-fleeced
lambs, efpecially if their wool be all v/hite and with-
out fpots, are the befl: for keeping. Thofe of a
weakly
3^6 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
weakly appearance are generally difpofed of to tht?
butcher. Lambs of the' firfl yeaning, as was before
obferved, are never fo good as thofe of the following;
and it is a general rule with all good hufbandmen,
rather to bring up the young of their cattle of every
kind, than to fell them off when young -, the profits
in the former cafe being by much theroofl confidcr-
able.
The ewe yields, during feven or eight months,
plenty of milk, which is good food for children end
peafants. It alfo makes good cheefe, efpecially if
mixed with that of cows. Ewes may be milked
twice a day in fummer, but only once in winter,
viz. immediately on their going to paflure, or at
their return.
Ewes eat more during their pregnancy than at
other times, and accordingly they then fatten very
faft : but they are alfo then very apt to hurt them-
felves, fo as, frequently, to mifcarry, and
fometimes to become barren from that time :
nor is it very extraordinary for them to bring forth
monftrous produftions. If no accident befalls tliem,
and they are properly tended, they are capable of
yeaning during their whole life ; that is, to the age
of ten or twelve years : but generally they break and
become fickly when they are turned of feven ( r
eight. A ram lives to twelve or fourteen years ; but
is no longer fit for propagation after eight : he
fhouldtherefore then be knit, and fattened with the old
fheep Although even then his flefh will be rank and ill-
tafted : that of an old ewe is at beil flabb) and in-
fipid : the flefh of the wether is mofl fucculent, and
the wholefomeft of all common meats.
CHAP.
SHEEP. 337
CHAP. IV.
Of the Difeafes of Sheep.
A Shepherd well verfed In feeding his flock pro ■
perly during the different feafons of the year,
and ikilled in the methods of curing the feveral dif-
orders to which flieep are fubjed, is a very valuable
perfon, and therefore fhould • be fought for with the
utmoft diligence ^ for on his care and abilities the
welfare of the flock greatly depends. How injudici-
ouliy then do they ad, who refign the care of their
l"heep to boys, or to the leaft deferving of their fer-
vants !
Mr. F. W. Haftfer, the Swedifh gentleman be-
fore quoted, and to whom the world in general, and
his own country in particular, is much indebted for
a well-methodized fet of Inji r unions concernmg the man-
ner of rearing and improving fheep.^ reduces the gene-
ral caufes of their difeafes to the five following heads,
vi%. I. Too great heat ; 2. Severe cold ; 3, Water;
4. Fright; and 5. Unhealthy pafture.— -If due care
IS taken to prevent the inconveniencies which arife
from thefe caufes, there will not be much room to
fear a general ficknefs or mortality amongft men.
It is generally thought that the brain of a fheep is
more cffeded by heat than that of any other crea-
ture : hence the inconveniencies which arife to them
from the burning heat of the fummer ; and as their
wool forms a warm covering around them, the leafl
additional heat greatly increafes that which they have
naturally. Even in the winter, fheep, particularly
in foreign countries, often fuffer from the too-great
heat of their cotes, which their fhepherds fliut up
very clofe, and can fcarcely be perfuaded that they
Z are
538 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
are doing them an injury. In this very wrong prac-
tice, which prevails in the northern parts of Europe,
and in France, the heat becomes prejudical on a
double account j firft, from tlie heat itfelf, which,
in crowded cotes, fometimes rifes to the do,o;-day
heat i but chiefly by the perfpiration of the fheep,
which not only makes the air lefs fit for breathing,
but by degrees renders it fo putrid as to give rife to
fevers of the worft kind.
Though fheep can bear cold much better than
heat, yet they fhould not on any account be expof-
ed to a too-fevere degree of it ; and above all, par-
ticular care fhould be taken that the pregnant ewes
do not drop j:heir lambs in the open air when the
weather is very frofty, becaufe that might cripple the
the lamb for life.
Too rainy a feafon is very prejudical to fheep, as
was remarkably experienced all over England in the
fummer of 1766, when whole flocks perifhed wiili
the rot. They who had luckily fown burnet before
were then made thoroughly fenfible of it's good ef-
feft, not only in preventing this fatal difeafe, but
alfo in curing fheep that were then inalmoft a dying
condition. Parflcy would have the fame efFedt, ais it
is probable that both of thefe plants carry off the too
great humidity by urine. Where neither of them
can be had, the fheep fhould be houfed during vio-
lent falls of rain, be fed with dry hay, and, as much
as pofllble, fheltered from the wet.
Mr. Haftfer, ((?) recommends the following pow-
ders as efficacious prefer vatives in fuch feafons. He
calls the firfl of them ant-powders^ and the two
others drying-powders. The ant-gowder is made
dius ;
" In autumn, when the ants have done working,
take the whole of an ant-hill, ants and all, fcooping
it out quite to the bottom, in order to have the more
[a) Part II. p. 139. 1 41.
of
SHEEP. 331
of the maftic or refmoiis fubftancc which fhey pfo-
\ ide for winter. Dry it well in an oven, till the
Jints and earth can eafily be crumbled into duft be-
twixt one's fingers •, then pound and fift it very fine,
and keep itinaveflel thathas been ufed for faked meat
or pickled lierrings ; firft dr)ing the velfel well be-
fore the powder is put into it. — Give to each fheep
a quarter of a pint of this powder mixed with twice
as much oats, in their cribs, or otherwife, after
having fprinkled it with pounded fait, very fait wa-
ter, or human urine. It will make the fheep fweat
and experience will prove it's good effect."
Mr. Haftfer adds, that this ant-powder is much
ufed in Gem.dny, as the writings of Colerus, Bay-
er, and others tedify -, that he has feen it given in
feme places in Sweden, though not many ; and
that he himfelf has ufed it on feveral different occa-
fions, and found that nature frequently affords in
fimple remedies as much rea:l utility as in the moft
coftly. In the year 1746, which was a very wet
year in Sweden, he gave this powder, by way of
trial, to four fheep, once a week, and when they
were killed the next autumn, their gall and liver
were perfedly found, whilft other fheep, which
had not taken it, where full of gall, and their livers
covered with hydatides, or watery tumours, in
great numbers and of all fi:ies.
Of his dryin? powders^ as he terms them, one is
compofed of two ounces of crude antimony, four
ounces of bay-berries, four ounces of fulphur, two
ounces of nitre, pounded together, and mixed with
ten pounds of fait. This is then to be put into the
cribs for the fheep to lick of it, and into their drink
efpecially in autumn after they are houfed, and af-
ter a rainy fummer, when there is room to fear they
may have fu ffered by the wet.
The other of thefe powders is made thus : Take
a pound of crude antimony, half a pound of nitre,
and a quarter of a pound of red tartar • pound them
7. 2 well
540 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
well feparately, and mix them together. A good
fpoonful is enough for fix or eight fheep. Mix it
with a little meal and dry wormwood, make^it into
a pafte, and give thebignefs of a walnut of it once
or twice a week to each fheep, in autumn and
fpring, when a general mortality prevails. This
cafe excepted, it is ufed only as a prefervative once
in three weeks or a month ; and then not till after
the ewes have lambed, and the lambs are fomewhat
biggifli. The fheep muft not be fuff'ered to drink
the fame day that they have taken this remedy -, but
on the contrary, they fhould be driven about a little
backwardsand forwards. This powder purges them by
urine and fweat, drives out their too-abundant hu-
mours, and is a very falutary medicine.
The fame ingenious writer gives us alfo, from
Van Aken's Phannacopceid for fheep, the following
recipe for making the Pomeranian powder^ famed
for it's efficacy in curing many diforders in l"heep.
" Take a pound of the grey powder of compound
falt-petre ; of gentian and bay-berries, each four oun-
ces; juniper-berries, common fait, roots of angelica,
elder, pimpernelle, ariftotolochia, monks-hood, cy-
clamen, black hellebore, root of fern, betony, mille-
pertuis, carduus benedi(5lus, rhue, millefoil, fumeto-
ry, and hyfop, an ounce an da quarter of each, with
two ounces of tops of worm-wood, two drams and
an half of afla-foetida, fix balls of caflor prepared.
Pound all this into a grofscoarfe powder^ and give to
each fheep half an ounce of it two or three times a
week in the morning, mixing it with pnfle, or making
it up into pellets. They are very fond cf it. When con-
tagious diftempers prevail amongft fheep, and there
runs from their mouths a thick and glutinous fla-
ver, it is a good fign ; but people who have large
flocks, as the fhepherds of Pomerania, who have
fometimes five or fix thoufand fheep to take care
of, may give this powder to a dozen or more flieep
at a time in the water, a little thickened with flour;
takin.^
SHEEP. 341
taking care that each Iheep has, as nearly as poflible
it's portion of half an ounce of it. When this pow-
der is given them they mufl not have drank water
for two days before.
After they have taken this remedy they fhoiild be
driven about a little, and not fufFercd to drink till the
next day, when juniper and worm-wood fhould be
put into the water that is given them. If they are
dropfical, they fhould not be let drink oftener than
every third day. There are extraordinary proofs of
the excellent efFedt of this powder in cafes where
other celebrated remedies have not done any fervice -,
and experience will convince thofe who ufe it proper-
ly 1 for it not only expels the noxious humours, and
dries gently the fcab and fmall-pox, but likewife
eafes the breafl, fo that the fheep that it has been
given to twice a week have recovered their health,
and in a fortnight after, the dropfy being come on,
and their heads fwelled again as big as ever, they
ha\e been perfectly reftored by the ufe of this pow-
der given two days together. Care muft therefore be
taken to ufe this powder in time, in cafe of a relapfe.
A little fait fhould be fprinkled over almoft all the
medicines that are given to fheep : it will make them
relifh what might otherwife be be loathfome ; and fo
far as can conveniently be, they fhould be phyficked
when the weather is fine : however, this mufl necef-
larily admit of many exceptions.
Peftilential difeafes will be fo fully treated of in
the latter part of this volume, that I fhall only men-
tion here Mr, Haftfer's having experienced the effi-
cacy of the above powder of antimony, in preferving
fheep from pellilential infeclions, even when thofe
\\ hich had taken it chanced to be mixed with fheep
that were infected. He likewife recommends the ufe
of rhue in their food, and fufpended round the neck,
wiien there is a fear of fuch diforders : and alfo to
prevent their being bitten by fnakes, thefe reptiles
having an averfion to that plant.
Z 3 SECT.
342 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
SECT, I.
Of cutaneous Dtfeafes in Sheep.
TH E Scab., or Itcl\ in ilieep is contagious, and
therefore carefully to be guarded againft. It
arifes from various caufes, fuch as unkindly feafons,
the fkin's being wounded in lliearing, or torn by
thorns, brambles, &c. Lice alfo, by breaking the
ikin in quefl of food, or perhaps for nefts to lay their
young ones in, bring on the itch, as does alfo the
iheep's being reduced by hunger.
As foon therefore as the fheep are obferved to
fcratch or rub themfelves againft any thing, or to bite
their fkin, the fhepherd fhould examine their fi(ic at Monticrs, in the duchy of Taran-
taife in Savoy, communicated to him by M. Rouille^
iecretan of ftate in France for foreign affairs. " It
** has tor a long time been obferved, that the fheep
" of our Alps, which are the beil in all Europe,
"■ fometimes fall away furprizingly. Their eyes be-
**■ come white, funk, and bleared ; their blood fe-
** rous, with fcorce any rednefs to be feen in it ;
*' their tongue dry and fhrivelled ; their nofe ftuff-
*' ed with a vellow vifcid and putrid mucus ; an ex-
*i treme debility, though they eat a great deal ; and,
" in fine, the whole animal fyftem vjfibly decaying.
** After feveral clofe inquiries, thefe animals were
*' found to have in their liver white papillons (moths),
" with pioper wings, their heads of a femi-oval
" form, and of the briehtncfs of thofe belonsinfy
to the filk-worm. I have been convinced of the
" reality of this facft, by fqueezing about feventy
"■ out of the two lobes ; and, at the fame time, all
" the convex part of the liver became lacerated.
*' They have been found in the veins only, without
" a fingle inftance of their being in the arteries.
" In the cyftic du<^, fmall ones have been found,
*■* tog'Sther with maggots. The vena porta, and
the capfula of Douglafs, which are vifible there as
"" in man; yielded to the foftefl: touch. The lungs
" and other vifcera were found." — Here M. de Buf-
fon veryjuftly remarks, that it were to be wifhed the
dodlor had given us a more circumftantial defcripti-
on of thefe papillotis, as he calls them, left it fhould
be doubted that the animals which he faw were in
truth no other than the common worms found in the
liver of a fneep, which are indeed very flat and broad,
and of fo fmgular a figure, that they might rather
be taken for leaves than worms.
The chief reliance for a cure of this difeafe fhould,
I think, be in antimony and mercurials ; perhaps of
choice in the cethiops mineral. Mr. Haftfer recom-
mends here rhue mixed with antimony.
Ch.riftopher
348 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
Chriftopher Baldwin, Efq; of Clapham, in Surry,
has found burnet to be remarkably efficacious for the
cure of the rot, as appears from a letter of his pub-
lilhed in a well-intended and very ufeful work, called
'The Repoftory forfekB Papers on Agriculture^ Arts, and
Mnniifaftures, begun in 1768, but unfortunately dropr
at the end of only a fecond volume ; and a farmer
in the North, in the autumn of the year 1766, when
all his fheep were fo far gone in the rot that he did
not expert one of them to live the winter over, fent
them into a field of burnet, which, in a month's
time, reftored them to perfe is (horter, their head larger, and their Ikin
thicker than in other hogs, which in hot climates are
totally black, like the wild boar.
A ridiculous prejudice, which owes its continuance
to fuperftition, deprives the Mahometans of this ani-
mal : they are taught to look upon it as unclean, and
are fo far from eating, that they dare not even touch
it. The Chinefe, on the contrary, are very fond of
hogs flefli : it is their moft common food, and is
faid to have animated them to refufe the do6trine of
Mahomet. The Chinefe hogs, which are the fame '
with thofe of Siam and India, differ from thofe of
Europe, in that they are fmaller, their legs confider-
ably lliorter, and their flefh much whiter and more
tender. Some perfons breed them here, and they
copulate and engender with our common (wine. The
Negroes alfo breed vaft numbers of hogs; and
though they are very fcarce among the Moors, and
in all Mahometan countries, wild boars abound as
much in Afia and Africa as in Europe.
CHAP-
SWINE. 369
CHAP. IV.
Of the Difeafes of Swine.
THE only difeafe that I know of which feems to
be peculiar to fwine, is a kind of leprofy,
commonly called meajles. When it feizes them, they
become dull and fleepy. If the tongue is pulled our,
the palate, throat, and it, will be found full of
blackifh fpots, which appear alfo on the head, neck,
and the whole body \ the creature is fcarce able to
fland on its legs, and the roots of its briftles are
bloody.
As this diforder proceeds chiefly from their glut-
tony and filth, the only way of preventing it is, as
was faid before, to keep them clean ; and the moft
probable way to remedy it is, to put the difeafed
ho;:s into a feparate clean fly, and there give them
wholefome food ; to wafh them carefully, and let
them have plenty of water to wallow in : antimony,
and its preparations, will alfo be of fervice to them.
Bb BOOK
370 A TREATISE on CATTLE,
BOOK VIII.
Of the contagious DISEASESor
CATTLE*.
THE cont;igions difeafes which have attacked
cattle at different times are not all of the
fame nature. The authors who have noticed them»
have given diffrrent defcriptions of them. I fhall
tirll defcribe thofe of which they have fpoken, and
then proceed to thofe which have appeared in our
days. It rauft be from a knowledge of what was
obferved in former epidemics, that we can learn to
guard againft the dire eff':6ts of future ones i for it
is but too certain, that thofe which have already ap-
peared will appear again, as there will hereafter be
occafion to remark : and the proper treatment of
difeafes which may hereafter attack cattle, can be
learnt only by confidsring what was done for them
before : for, as in the cure of difeafes incident to
men, fo in thofe of animals, experience is all in all.
Experience makes us acquainted with each fpecies of
malady, its genus, the different caufes which have
contributed to its production, the remedies which
have been applied, and their effeds. " Be always
" mindful," fays Hippocrates (a)^ " of whatever
* Abridged from Memoire fur les Maladies ipidcm'ique des
Bejiiaux, par M. Barbel et, M.D. to' which the Royal Society of
Agriculture at Paris adjudged their premium for the year 1765,
and ot which they were pleafed to tranfmit a copy to the writer
of this worlc.
(a J Lib. de decent. Ornat. §.8.
" has
CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. 371
" has cured difeafes, of the appearances under which
*' thofe difeafes have fhewn ihemfelves, of the
" changes they have undergone, and of the diffe-
" rent manners in which they have afFeded different
*' creatures ; for this is, in phyfic, the beginning,
*' the middle, and the end."
The ancients afford us but little inftrudion con^
cerning the contagious difeafes of cattle, a fcourge
which fo often fvveeps away whole herds ; for they
fcarcely enter inter anv defcription of them. Virgil^
at the end of his tnird Georgic, defcribes, indeed, a
mortality amongft cattle; but what he fays. is rather
the flight of a poet's imagination, painting the rava-
ges of any epidemic difordr, than the defcription
of a particular one : and though we find in Celfus
prefcriptions for many maladies of horfes, oxen, and
fheep ; yet he has not given us a defcription of any epi-
demic diforder : nor is Columella at all accurate in
his defcription of the contagious difeafes of cattle.
We mull therefore come fo far down as Ramaz-
zini, who, in his account of the epidemical conftitu-
tion of the year 1690, at Modena, fays, that the
feafon was cold and moift, and that the reigning dif-
tempers of that year attacked all the people who
lived in the country, and fpread itfelf indifcriminately
amongfl all kinds of animals, of which great num-
bers died after a few days illnefs. Nature made
f^rong efforts to difengage herfelf from the difeafe
by a critical difchaige on the thighs, neck, and head,
refemb'ing the puftules of the fmall-pox. Moft of
the animals which had this appearance loft their eye-
fight. Thofe creatures which were not carried off by
this difeafe, but refifted its violence, loft their flelh
by 'degrees, and fell into a marafmus. Ramazzini
did not fcruple to declare thefe puftules to be the
fmall-pox i for they differed not from it in form, in
colour, or in the matter which they contained, nor
in fize, nor in the manner in which they went off :
B b 2 when
372 A TREATISE ok CATTLE.
when they had dried off after the fuppuration, they
left a black fear, like to that which remains after
the fmall-pox.
This epidemic contagion continued in «j 691, and
attacked chiefly the fheep, fo violently tha% the breed
v/as almoft deftroyed : (Ita ut ovilus grex pine dektits
fuerit. Ramaz. p. 42.) It has been conftantly ob-
ierved, that, of all animals, flieep are the moft fub-
jedt to the fmall-pox. The French call it, in them,
davin, or claveaux^ and I fhall fpftik more fully of
it hereafter. It was therefore to be expedted that
they lliould be particularly affeded by it, fince they
are more difpofed to it than other cattle.
In i6g7, HeiTe faw her herds carried off by a
pulmonary phthifis. (Confl. epid. Haffiac. ann.
1 69 1.) The winter of that year began with rain,
and ended with very fevere cold : an extraordinary
warmth which commenced in the fpring, and conti-
nued during the whole fummer, took place all at
once of the former cold. Such fudden changes al-
ways occafion unufual motion in the fluids, and fre-
quently obftrudions in the capillary veffels; and
hence it feldom happens but that a fudden change
from cold to heat brings on epidemical difeafes : yet
the diforder which then reigned in Heffe was alfo attri-
buted to a blight, or corrofive dew, which fell on the
paflures in 1693, in the fame manner as the pas-
tures in Italy had been infected in 1 690. Befides
thefe caufes, the above-quoted obferver imputes the
diforders to the .coldnefs of the water, which, the
animals drinking greedily of it whilfl: they were very
hot, contributed much to the pulmonary phthifis :
for if a man in a great fweat drinks a draught of
ice- water, it is to be feared that he will be feized
with a pleurify or peripneumony. The cafe is the
fame with animals. .^'
The fpring of the year we ,are fpeaking of being
very warm, the bullocks and cows, heated both by
the
CONTAGIOUS DISEASE?. ^13
tlie warmth of the feafon, and by the devouring fire
whicli raged in their bowels, througli the infe(fte4
quality of the plants they had fed on, ran to the
coldeft. water they could find. One of the firll ef-
fetls of cold is to condenfe fluids, and to leden the
diameters of vefTels, The fibres of the capillary
veflels, being contraded by the a(f\ion of the cold,
flopped and returned the blood which before flowed
freely in thofe veflels, and from thence proceeded an
inflammation. When this happens to a confiderable
number of veflels, they burfl:, and their coats with
their contents turn to pus, or that matter which v/efee
in boils. This is what happened in Hefle : the in-
flammation, at firfl: negledled, fuppurated, and the
cattle funk under a pulmonary phthifis.
In the year 17 12, they were attacked in Lower
Hungary with a moll dangerous difl:emper, (Conji,
epid. inter Hungar. ann. 171 2.) The winter had been
extremely cold, and the fpring rainy, with great
changes in the temperature of the atmofphere j for
on the fame day the morning was cold, the middle
of the day very warm, the cold began again about
three o'clock, and the evening became warm. Thefe
changes occafioned amongfl: men many fevers, which
were as irregular as the feafon. In the months of
June and July, during which the weather continued
conftantly warm, there appeared a prodigious num-
ber of infeds, reptiles, and particularly ferpents
which killed many perfons in the country. Their
bite brought on a fwelling which fpread very fafl: all
over the body, and particularly to the tongue, fo
that the fick could not utter a word. The cattle
were not lefs fubjedt to the bite of thefe ferpents,
than the men ; and accordingly the mortality among
them was very great.
In Auguft, which was very rainy, the mortality
increafed, but by a new kind of diibrder, which
inewed itfelf by white pufl:ules filled with matter
infufferably
274 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
infufFerably ftinking. A liquor of a cadaverous fmell
flowed from the mouths of the fick cattle ; it was
with the utmoft difficulty that they breathed : the
bullocks and cows feized with this diforder bellowed
conftantly, and without intermiflion, as death ap-
proached, A noife was then heard in their bowels,
as if the coats of their inteftines, diftended too much,
burft. Though the obferver does not mention it,
yet every circumftance, efpecially the puftules, de-
clare thisdiftemper to have been the fmall-pox com-
plicated with fome other diforder. The liquor which
flowed from the mouth greatly refembled the fpit-
ting which comes on in men in the fmall-pox. The
difficulty of breathing, the flench of the breath, and
the infcdlious fmell of the puftules, are fymptoms
which conftantly attend the clavin or fmall-pox in
flieep, when the difeafe is violent or accompanied
with putrefadion.
In the ftomach of the animals which were opened
were found balls of the fize of a wallnut, filled with
hair, and covered with a membranous tunic, fo hard
that it could fcarcely be cut with a knife. This
membranous tunic is uncommon ; for the egagro-
piles are not organized bodies.
This mortality fpread even to the wild beads, fe-
veral of which were found dead in the forefts. The
dogs which ate of their flefh, or that of any of the
animals that died of the contagion, became mad ;
and the men who were bitten by them were feized
with the hydrophobia.
The changeablenefs of the feafon had a great fhare
in the epidemic here fpoken of, and the multitude of
reptiles contributed to render it ftill more dangerous
to cattle : for the great number of infeds which ad-
hered to the grafs they fed upon, might caufe as
many diforders as the blight before-mentioned \ be-
caufe all animal fubftances are of a more feptic qua-
lity than grafs, which is the natural food of cattle.
The
CONTAGIOUS DISEASE?. 575
The epidemic dileafc of 1711 (b)^ which made
fiich havock in Italy and Germany, came originally
from Hungary, by means of bullocks brought from
that country : for there appeared nothing in the con-
flirution of the air, nor in the food, that could give
life to it ; nor did it afFed cattle which had no com-
munication with thofe that came from Hungary.
The infedion feemed to be communicated by their
faliva dropped on the grafs ; Co that found cattle
which afterwards fed on the fame paflure contraded
the diforder with which the others were infcded.
The virus, which was communicated by the fali-
va, was fo extremely acrid, that it aded as a
cauflic on the gullet, flomach, and inteftines, affed-
ed the nervous fvftem, occafioned fpafm?, contrad-
ed the fibres, and caufed obflrudions in the capillary
veflels: the fluids confequently became putrid, and the
bowels were feized with g&ngrenous inflammations.
Thedifeafe was attended with a burning heat, a total
Jofs of appetite, a difficulty of breathing : in {omc
bullocks the tongue was inflamed and covered with
many red blifters ; the flomach, the epiploon, and
efpecially the inteftines, were alfo inflamed ; the parts
near the liver were of the colour of the bile ; the
excrements were purulent, tinged with blood, and
of an infurTerable ftench, fo that, fays the obferver
who has ieft us this account, the diforder affumed the
appearance of a malignant dyfentery : and yet the
dyfentery here certainly was only fymptomatic.
The mortality amongft the cattle ceafed but very lit-
tlg during the winter, and began again the next year :
The caufe, hov/ever, did not feem to be the fame \ for
the epidemic diforder in 1 7 1 2 appeared with difl^ereu!:
fymptoms. It firfl: attacked the horfes, efpecially thofc
which were in the neighbourhood of Augfburgh;
yet almoft all that were in the town efcaped. li ai-
(b) Conji. Epidem.AuguJl. ar.n. 171 1, 1712.
ter wards
376 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
terwards fpread to the bullocks and cows, and to
many other animals of diffcrint kinds. On the
breaft, groin, and many other parts, there arofe
hard tumours, which extended greatly, and foon
carried off the cattle affeded with them. This dif-
order Teems to have been the confequence of that
of the former year ; the hard tumours and the f>mp-
toms attending them being imputed to the fling of
hornets, of which there was an incredible number
in 1712, of an uncommonly large fize. It was faid
that they fed on the bodies of the cattle which di<^d
the year before, and had not been buried fufficiently
deep. That the (ling of thefe hornets bred in ard
fed on infc(5lion, could not but be dangerous, will
appear frofti the following event, which fhews to
how great a degree the juict^s v/ere altered.
A man intending to chop off the foot of a horfe
which had died of the fling of a hornet, and had
not been buried deep enough, the foot appearing
above ground, fome drops of the juices fplafhed about
by the hatchet he made ufe of flew into one of his
eyes, and caufed there an inflammation and fwelling,
which foon extended to the other eye, afterwards
over the whole head and finally killed him.
Lancifi inform-s us, that the uife precautions of
Pope Clement XI. preferved for two years the flates
fubie£l to him, from the contagious difeafe which a
bullock had brought from Hungary into the diflridt
of Padua, from whence it had fpread all over the
Venetian territories and the Milanefe, and at length
penetrated into the kingdom of Naples. In the rr^id-
dle of the fummer of 1713, information was receiv-
ed, that fome drovers w^re conducting a great num-
ber of cattle to the fair of Frufino, a town in the
Ecclefiaflical State, but bordering on the kingdom
of Naples. To prevent all danger, orders w(-re
immediately given, that the fair fhould not be held.
The drovers feeing the impoffibility of felling their
cattle
CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. 577
cattle as they had intended, led them through bye-
ways to Rome. They were fold at a low price ; and
being fold again to the inhabitants of the towns and
villages throughout that province, the infec\ion was
foon fpread over the whole Campania of Rome. An
exad: regiiter was kept of all the cattle that died
from the month of Oclober 171 5, to the month of
April 1714} when the infecftion ceafed in the Ecclefi-
aftical State, and prefents us a fhocking detail of
the cfFed^s of that peftilence, by which were deftroy-
€d 8466 oxen ufed for ploughing, 10125 white cows,
2816 red cows, 108 breeding bulls, 427 young bulls,
451 heifers, 2362 calves, 862 buffaloes male and fe-
male, 635 young buffaloes, in all 26252 cattle in
the fpace of nine months. Lancifi thinks, that if
the computation had been begun from the 2d of Au-
gud, the number of cattle which perifhed would
have amounted to 30000,
That author does great juftice to the truly pater-
nal care and folitude fliewn by the holy Father on
this melancholy and fatal conjuncflure. We may fee
by his account, that the fpeedy extindtion of a
fcourge which continued long to ravage other dates
Italy, was owing more to the Pope's, prudent meafures,
than to medicines, which were found to be ineffec-
tual. This evinces, that good laws and a(flive ma-
giftrates are frequently the mod effectual fafe-guards
againft peflilential difcafes.
This diftemper fliewed itfelf in fome animalsby low-
ings,by.akind of terror with which they v/ere feized, by
a tJioufand different motions which fcemed to arife
from that terror, and by a fudden and precipitate
flight. Others, cliicfly the weak, dropt down dead
at once, as if they had been thunder-ftruck. In al-
moll all the reft was oblerved a great dejection ;
they could hardly hold up tlieir heads ; their eyeis
were dull and full of tears ; a furprizing quantity of
mucus fiov/ed from the nofe, and cf faliva from tlie
moutii ;
378 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
mouth ; the fever in them was very high ; they
were (o drjedted that they could not fland up ; their
hair flood on end ; their tongue, mouth, and gulJet
were inflamed, ulcerated, and more or Jefs covered
with bliflers : at firft they fhewed a great third, but
fbon refufed every kind of drink and food : many
had a confiderable purging ; what they difcharged
was of different colours, always very foetid, and
fometimes bloody. Mofl of them funk under the
diflemper in a week, being feized with the moft vio-
lent oppreflion. Their breath was infufferably flink-
ing, a ftrong cough v/as frequently joined to all thefe
fymptoms, &:c.
It was feldom that the appearances in the vifcera
were alike in the creatures which died of this plague.
The contagion fell fometimes on one part, and fome-
times on another, feemingly according to the weak-
nefs of that particular part. This Lancifi fays he
was convinced of by opening three bodies. Except
the fmall ulcers obferved in the mouth, throat, aefo-
phagus and paunch of each of them, and likewife
the gangrenous fpots obferved in tlieir lungs, all the
other effedls were totally different. In the paunch
of the firfl, which died on the third day of the dif-
eafe, he found a mafs of the creature's lafl food, ex-
tremely hard, and what Pliny calls pivencanm to-
phu7fi^ that is, an aegagropile. The liver, inteflines,
and lungs of the fecond, which died on the fixth
day, were intirely fphacelated ; the heart and brain
of the third were become putrid maffes, withfcarce-
ly any vafcular appearance. He obferved nothing
particularly remarkable in the fluids.
The young and fat cattle, which had worked little
and been well fed, were more eafily affeded by the
diflemper, and died fooner, than the cattle which had
been made lean by hard labour, and were come to a
certain age.
Lancifi
CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. 379
Lancifi thinks that the greater or lefs abundance of
the fluids, and their flowing more or lefs freely
through the velfels, was the true caufe of this differ-
ence ; for the pefliilential ferment, fays he, infinuates
itfelf more eafily into the blood and fpirits, and falls
more feverely on the bowels, when it meets with a
greater plenty of fluids liable to be corrupted, and
uith obftacles .which prevent its finding a pallage out
of the body.
Though the lean cattle did not efcape the conta-
gion, and though they generally died of it, yet feme
of them recovered -, probably owing to the lefs in-
terruption which the peftilential ferment met with in
them, than in thofe that were fat.
What was very remarkable is, that moil of the
female bufl^aloes, which were feizcd with the plague
when they fuckled their young, did not die. Their
teats were ulcerated all over, and none of their young
cfcaped. Lancifi is of opinion that the acrid venom
taken in by the nofe of the mother, and with her
food, flowed with the chyle into the blood, and by
that means into the minuteft veffels of the udder.
There it happily depofited ; and as part of the ve-
nom was taken off by their young, and the refl: of
it remained flopped at the extremity of the lacftifer-
ous veflels ulcerated and corroded by that fame fer-
ment, the mothers", by means of thefe falutary fores,
frequently efcaped death ; perhaps as happens to men
feized with the plague,who are often cttred by a lucky
fuppuration of buboes.
In the year 1730, a great number of cattle died
in Bohemia, Lithuania, Saxony, theMarche of Bran-
denburgh, and the Datchy of Magdeburgh (Hiji. Feb.
Catarrh, ann. 1750O but we have no account of ihz
diflemper which carried them oflf. Perhaps it might -
be like that which defl:royed fo many in fome of the
provinces of France in 1731, the firft fymptom of
which was a white blifler that appeared o'^ the tongue.
This
58o A TREATISE on CATTLE.
This blifter afterwards became red, and ended with
turning black and degenerating into a cancerous ul-
cer, which ate away, and, in a fhort time, confumed
the whole tongue. It was very like an anthrax.
This diftemper was the more dangerous, becaufe
there was no fymptom which declared its approach i
for the creature which was feized with it ate and
drank as ufual, till the ulcer had ma^e a confidera-
ble progrefs, and often nothing was perceived till it
was too late to afTift.
From the year 1740 to 1750^ the horned cattle,
not only in Fiance, but all over Europe, died in vaft
numbers of a putrid, malignant, inflammatory fever,
like that which made fuch havock in Germany and
Italy in 171 1, and which was called a malignant dy-
fentery. Of all the difeafes that have at any time
attacked cattle, this feems to be the mod dangerous,
the moft complicated, and the moft difficult to cure.
Its approach was indicated by a languor and general
dejection ; the beating of the heart was as quick a-
gain as in a natural ftate, which denotes a very brifl-c
fever. The fick animal, hanging down its head,
could hardly {land upon its feet ; it tottered ; its
loins panted ; its eyes were red and full of tears j
its horns and ears were cold ; a thick glutinous flaver
ran from its nofe and mouthy and a convulfive mo-
tion was apparent from the head all along the bacR,
The other fymptoms were fimilar to thofe before
mentioned in *fpeaking of the epidemical difeafe of
of Augfburgh.
In 1756, the French loft a great number of cattle
in Minorca. Thefe animals, tranfported thither
from Auvergne, were little accuftomed to the heat
of a climate where they were expofed all day long to
the burning rays of the fun : for, excepting the mid-
dle of the ifland, fcarce any fhade to be found in it.
This became the more grievous to them as they natu-
rally delight in a cold climate, and in fuch it is that
they
CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. 381
they thrive beft. In faft, the cattle of, Denmark,
Podolia, and Ukraine are the largeft, and next to
tliem thofe of Ireland and England, whilft thofe of
Spain and Barbary are the fmalleft. They found not
in Minorca any thing that could allay in their bow-
els a heat which they had not felt elfewhere. They
had no cooling grafs, for all is burnt up in that
ifland by the month of May. The water, being eve-
ry where warm and in many places brackifh, ajffbrded
but little refrefhment to creatures which love it cool
and pure. They languifhed, and loft their flefh vifi-
bly from day to day ; their breath was hot, and they
ended with pifllng blood.
We were terrified in 1762 with accounts of an
epidemic difeafe which made great havock inDenmark
and had advanced to the frontiers of Germany. The
following is an account of it, fent to one of the
members of the Royal Society of Agriculture at Pa-
ris.
" The contagion fpread with great rapidity; the
** youngeft, the moft robuft, and the moft healthy
" cattle were the firft feized with it, and died the
** fooneft. In moft of them a cough was the fymp-
" torn of the difeafe. Their eyes became dull, wa-
*' tery, and bleared ; and even tears trickled from
** them. In a day or two after the cows were thus
** feized, their milk dried up, and this was a fure
*' fign that the contagion had reached them. In the
" beginning, the creatures were cold even to fhiver-
*' ing, nearly as men are on the firft attack of a fe-
*' ver. A heat fucceeded, and continued for feveral
** days : it was moft perceptible at the nape of the
*' neck, either by the heat itfelf, or by the beating
" of the pujfe. The fick animal loft its appetite for
** eating,but continued to drink freely till theinflam-
*' mation deprived it of the power of fwallowing.
*' A great quantity of infufFerably-ftinking fnotty
** matter flowed from the nofe, and the teeth became
loofe
382 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
loofe In mod of them. Some became coftive -,
but in much the greater number a diarrhaea came
on in the beginning, with a difcharge of fcarce
any thing except water, with very little excrement.
Towards the end of the difeafe, the two lall Joints
of the tail became foft and rotten : if the fkin
which covered them was opened, there came out
a foetid purulent matter. The gangrene proceed-
ed by degrees even to the horns, which became
cold and empty. When the ears and nofe became
cold, the difeafe was in the laft ftage ; and then it
was that the animal generally died on the fixth or
feventh day from its being taken ill.
'' On opening the dead bodies, the gall-bladder
was found greatly enlarged, and full of a
liquor more like urine than bile. In fome of them
there was even three pounds weight of this liquor
in the bladder ; in many,, the ftomach and intef-
tincs were full of worms yet alive at the opening
of the body. There were likewife in the blood-
veiTels certain infeds called plaice^ becaufe of the
refemblance of their fhape to that of the fifh fo
named. Sometimes the brain appeared diffolved
into a purulent water. In many, the veins were
full of black blood. Numbers had the neck in-
flamed. In others, the inflammation fell on the
bowels, and fometimes another part of them was
found gangrened. The ftomachs were full of
food not digefted ; and that food was fo dry, and
fo much compadted together, that it could not be
feparated without great difficulty. Livid and black
fpots on the ftomachs and inteftines (hewed evi-
dently a gangrene. In fome animals, the liver and
ipleen were covered with fmall tumours fo hard
that'they could not be broken, and they felt like
grains of fmall fand under the fingers; while the
reft of the fubftance of thefe vifcera was, on the
contrary, fo foTt, that it could fcarcely be touched
without
CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. ^ 383
*' without piercing into it. Some dead bodies af-
*' forded no fign of any diftemper. The blood that
" was taken from the animals was of a clear red,
" and difcovercd figns of great inflammation by its
" frothing and fmoaking, and not having any liquid
" in it after it had cooled : the whole was one coa-
" gulated mafs, which might be cut like a jelly."
In the years 1746, 1754, 1761, and 1762, there
appeared among the fheep in the neighbourhood of
Beauvais (in Picardy) a contagious difeafe which the
Frencli commonly call clavin or claveau, and which is
in fadt no other than the fmall-pox, as was before ob-
ferved. It is, of all the contagious diftempers which
affe(5l fheep, the mofl: eafily communicated, and that
to which they are the moft liable. Like the fmall-
pox too it is diftinguifhed into the diftindt or mild,
and the confluent or malignant.
The Royal Society of Agriculture at Paris having
received the following very particular account of this
difeafe, as it appeared in 1762, from M. Borel,
Lieutenant General of Beauvais, and Member of the
Society of Agriculture of that city, gladly pay him
the tribute of praife juftly due to the zeal and dili-
gence which he manifefled on this occafion. He
himfelf examined the condition of the fheep in many
villages and hamlets, in order to become perfectly
acquainted with the fymptoms of the diforder, which
he has defcribed with a precifion that (hews he judged
and faw with his own eyes.
The diforder manifefted itfelf by a want of appe-
tite and a dejedionin the animal. Some perceived
it twenty-four hours before the eruption ; the moft
attentive perceived it two or three days fooner; but
the greatell part did not notice it till after the erup-
tion had begun. The difgufl was proportioned to
the degree of the malady ; for the flieep that were
afTeded continued to eat, thofe that were mofl; fe-
verely attacked took no food of their own accdrd,
people
384 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
people fupported them as well as they could ; they
were very thirfty and water was given to them all.
As foon as they were feized with the diforder, they
ceafed to chew the cud ; their eyes were heavy, fwell-
ed, and watery, they became very dirq, and fre-
quently the eye-lids were fo glued together, that the
creatures could not fee. Many of thofe which had
been cured had loft one eye, and others were quite
blind : a depofite or tranflation of the pocky matter
being made, brought on a fuppuration which deftroy-
ed the whole fubftance of one or both eyes ; but
thefe depofites contributed much to a recovery. There
flowed from the nofe a thick tough matter, of the
colour of pus, generally white, feldom yellow. Their
flrength failing them to follow the flock, they laid
down, and remained in the place where it may be
faid they fell. Their ears were very cold ; though
this was not always the cafe. They were quite mo-
tionlefs, and colle(fled into the fmalleft compafs
poflible with the head inclining as much as could
be to the ground, the tail drawn in between the
legs, and the hinder parts brought near to -the
fore ones without feeming to be griped. The op-
preflion they laboured under was in proportion to
the violence of the diforder. When the attack was
mortal, they groaned during the lafl twenty-four
hours of life, and their loins palpitated ftrongly. If
they recovered, their wool fell off from the places
where there had been an eruption. Their excre-
ments v^ere nearly the fame as in a ftate of health,
but rather dryer, and blacker than in the natural
ftate. The pimples refembled exadlly thofe of the
fmall-pox. They were of different forms and diffe-
rent colours. Some were perfectly round and dif-
tind ; others confluent and of an eliptical ftiape.
All of them were at firft red and hard. Thediftin<5t
fort became afterwards white and foft, fuppurated^
dried
CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. s^S
dried up, and fell off in fcales. In the confluent
kind the pimples were fo near together that they
touched each other; they became oC a purple co-
lour, and mftead of rifing and turning white, they
appeared flat and became black. The fev^er, hear,
thirft, and dejedion continued, attended with a
difficulty of breathing, and working in the loins.
Some died fo early as the third day after the erup-
tion. The more the head was affeded, the grea-
ter was the danger, and the fpeedier the death.
Thofe that outlived the diforder, were long in
recovering. Some did not recover in lefs than
two months, others at the end of fix weeks, or a
month : in the diftincft kind, they generally reco-
vered in a fortnight : but in both forts, feveral
died at the end of thefe periods. People were at
firfl: of opinion, that the rtieep fed in moitl paf-
tures Were more liable to be feized with this dif-
order than thofe fed in dry paftures : but it was
afterwards obferved that there was not any diffe-
rence between them. The fheep were feized in
the winter as well as in the fummer. In feveral
places the infe(ftion fpread without any immedi-
ate communication with the fick fheep : in others,
it feemed to be the effect of their coming near to
one another. The eruption appexired chiefly on
the head, on the infide of the fore and hind legs,
on the belly, and around the anus. Some fheep
had but very few pimples, Thefe the country
people called the flying fmaU-pox. Some had
pimpies only on their legs, others on their ears
only, and fome again had only .one cluffer of the
breadth of a crown-piece. A flieep had fuch a
clufter on one ear, which it treated fo roughly that
the ear remained curled up, and difplaced from its
natural pofiiion. Another had one on its foot ;
the hoof fell off, and the 'creature remained lame
ever after. The eruption was generally complete
C c by
386 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
by the fourth or fifth day. The infide of the
mouth was full of pimples, which would have pre-
vented the fheep's eating even if it had not had a
di'gafl 'o food. The breath was exceflively {link-
ing. M. Bore) obferves, that when a flock of
fheep was feized with this diftemper, at leaft one
half or two thirds of them was very fick. In mod
plcices, no attempt had been made to cure it, the
country people being perfuaded that there was no
cure for it, becaufe they had never feen their fa-
thers adminifter any ; only Tome of them aflured
him, that the open air was better for the fick fheep,
than houilng them.
This gentleman, not contented with examining
the fymptoms of the difeafe in the living, endea-
voured to difcover its eflftds in the dead bodies.
A fheep which was firft obferved to be fick on a
Thurfday, continued in the field all Friday, and
on Saturday morning was found dead in the fheep-
fold : it was brought to M. Borel in the after-
noon of th.; fame day ; figns of putrefaction ap-
peared already in it by an ofFenfive fmell,'by a
livid greenifh colour upon its neck and under its
fore and hind legs, and by the largenefs of its
lower belly, which inclofed a great deal of infeded
air. This fheep had not any pimples on the head,
nor was that part of it at all fwelled ; only two
pimples were found on the upper, and two on the
lower part of the tongue \ and in thofe places the
flvin peeled off as it does from a tongue put into
boiling water. On raifing the eye-lids, it was feen
that the eyes had loft their brightnefs and tranf-
parency, and that more in one than the other.
The pimples were numerous on the belly, under
the fore and hind legs, and on the neck and throat.
— They appeared like tumours or white puftules,
round, flat, and of a fixth, a fourth, or a third
part of an inch in diameter. They did not
pierce
CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. 387
pierce deeper than the fkin, and moved wkh it.
The matter of which they were formed had not
yet made pits, as in the white puftules of the fmall-
pox. On opening them, they appeared hke a
pinguous tumour ; fome were excoriated in the
middle. It was prefumed that they had not be-
come white till after the death of the creature,
and that they were red before, as in the other
fheep during the firft days of the eruption. The
remains of a fanious humour, of the colour of
coffee, were found in the noflrils ; but no judg-
ment could be formed of its mucofity at the
end of twelve or eighteen hours after death, whea
a putrefadion had begun. The lower belly being
opened, the cawl appeared of a dead blackifh red,
and the fat of it had not that cohefian and con-
fidence which it has in fheep killed when in health.
The liver was of a dark-green colour ; which co-
lour penetrated about a twelfth part into the fub-
ftance of it, in fome places more, in fome lefs,
and the part fo coloured was brittle, as if boiled.
The gall bladder v/as flabby, and feemed to have
contained more bile, and that thinner, than in its na-
tural ftate. The inner coat of the firft flomach
was loofe and wrinkled, of a green colour, and
prodigioufly full of white lenticular puftules, of
the fame nature as thofe on the fkin, but fmaller
in diameter. The ftomach contained a greenifh
liquor in fmall quantity. The fecond ftomach
contained alio but little. The third was very full
of food pretty well chewed, and as green as the
grafs of which it was the produce. It was alfo
much extended with a very rarefied and fetid air.
The fmall gTits were almoft empty. In the colon
and cascum were excrements of a middling con-
fiftence. The kidneys were like the liver, green
and dry on the outfide. The bladder had little
urine in it. The lungs were flabby, and of a dark
Cc 2 livid
388 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
]Ividred. Some fmall tumours were obferved in
them, like thofe on the ikin, but round and thick.
The heart appeared larger than in its natural ftate.
The right ventricle contained a very black blood :
a clod of bl^ood taken out of the inferior vena cava
was black in its upper part next the heart ; but in
its lower part next the liver it was yellow, and re-
fembled that coat which covers the blood in pleu-
rifies. The head of this fheep was not opened,
as well on account of the putrefaction, as becaufe
the difeafe did not feem to have fallen on that part.
M. Borel adds, that if a child had died at the fame
period of a difeafe, and with the fame fymptoms,
it would be thought to have died of the fmall-pox
ftriken in. The refemblance between the claveau
in ftieep, and the fmall-pox in men is very ftriking,
whether we examine it in its beginning and pro-
grefs, or in its efFeds and confequences in the
ihecp that were cured. In many of thefe the Ikin
of the head, efpecially about the lips, was feamed
as the fkin of a human face is by the confluent
fmall-pox.
It were to have been wilhed that M. Borel's oc-
cupations had permitted him to notice with the
fame care and exadlnefs the effe '" England in 1 66s and 1 666,
in Poland in 1708 and 1709, at Marfeilles in
1720 ; and yet the authors who have fpoken of
thefe terrible fcourges make no mention of their
having affeded any other creatures than mankind.
Can it be fuppofed that all of them neglected or
forgot a circumftance of fo great confequence ?
Their filence is a convincing proof that all epide-
mical difeafes do not arife folely from the conftitu-
tion of the air.
It
CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. 395
It may be ohjedled, that as the air ads diffe-
rently on different bodies, fo the difeafes which
the air communicates to men may not affedl other
animals, nor thofe which are peculiar to any one
fpecies of animals affe(ft any other fpecies : for
what proves mortal to one fpecies does not to ano-
ther; and that there is a plague for men, another
for horfes, another for cattle, and another for Iheep.
A found bullock put into the fame flable with a
glandered horfe does not catch the glanders. A
bullock put into a'houfe with fheep ill of the fmall-
pox, does not catch that difeafe, nor do horfes ;
and found fheep do not catch the glanders or farcy
from horfes, wlien confined with them in the fame
ftable : and yet one fhould be cautious not to mix
found animals of any fpecies with difeafed ones of
any oflier : for men who had not fo much as a
fcratch on their hands have been feized with a true
antlirax by opening the bodies of cattle dead of a
contagious diflemper ; and almoft all the cow-
herds who were appointed to watch an infecfted
herd, have been feen to fall into malignant fevers
accompanied with a gangrene.
independant of the air, it is certain that many
epidemic difeafes take their rife from the bad qua-
lities of food. If the bread-corn is any way dif-
tempered, it never fails to bring on diforders among
the country people ; of which a remarkable in-
ftance is recorded in the Hiflory of the Royal
Academy of Sciences for the year 17 10 i viz. that
the peafants of Sologne who lived on rye which
had the fpur were feized with a dry black gangrene,
which began in the toes, acendcd infcnfibly, and
made their limbs drop off, in fuch mahner that
fome of them were alive in the Hotel-Dicu at Or-»
leans"
596 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
leans with nothing left but the trunk of the body *;
Grafs equally diftempered becomes equally perni-
cious to the cattle which are fed with it. Thedif-
temper in grafs called ruft (a:rugo £5* rubigo,) has
always been looked upon as very dangerous. The
holy fcriptures fpeak of it as an effedt of the wrath
of God. Pliny reckons it more hurtful than hail ;
and therefore it was, fays he, thatNumaPom-
pilius inftituted feftivals, called Rubigalia Fejla, to
avert the eflfedts of it. They were celebrated in
the month of April, becaufe this diftemper ufually
begun in that month. The nature of it is not
yet well underftood. It generally begins when,
in hot weather, there has fallen a plentiful dew,
which was fuppofed to break the veiTels of the
leaves and (lems of plants, from whence iifued a
thick extravafated juice, which being dried'by the
fun, was turned into a red powder which adhered
to the plants, and did them great injury -, for they
fqpn after appeared gangrened, if we may apply
this word to plants. Count Francefco Ginnani,
in his work intituled Delle Mallatie del Grano in
Herha^ C. 5. Part. IL attributes this diftemper in
vegetables, not to the extravafation of their juices,
but to the hatching of the eggs of infeds. He
has feen them, he fays, between the outward and
the inward covering of the leaves. Plenciz, in
the work before-mentioned, quotes the microfco-
pical difcoveries of Needham, the Obfervations
of Mercurialis, and the Ada Eruditorum of Leip-
zick for the year 1 7 1 8, in order to demonftrate
that what is properly called the Rujlf depends on
f Several other fatal efFefls which arife to men and beafts
from their feeding on diftempered corn, or diftempered gjafs,
are frequently noticed in Mills's Syjiem of Hujbandry. The
above faft in particular is related in Vol. II. p. 407. of that
work, with the addition of fome farther obfervations thereon
made by our iliulliious Royal Society,
the
CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. 397
the eggs of certain vermin, which, being laid on
vegetables, penetrate the outer fkin, hatch, and
afterwards multiply there. Calm and temperate
weather, rather warm, and in which there are drip-
ping rains without a cloudy fky, favours their pro-
duction. This, fays he, is what was experienced
in Auftria in the year 1751, and what was obferved
on the 31ft of March and 30th of June 1759, on
both which days it did not ceafe to rain, though
the Iky was clear. In the former of thefe cafes,
almoft all the vegetables in the country were co-
vered with ruft ; and in 1759 the wheat was great-
ly damaged by it. This opinion of the caufe of
this diftemper is adopted by M. Tillet, by Loe-
vvenhoeck in his 109th letter to Van Leeween,
and by M. Duhamel. Whatever be the cafe as to
this opinion, all agree that damaged or corrupted
food mufl be as hurtful to other animals as to.men.
Clover, fainfoin, and lucerne are certainly whole-
fotne plants; but let them be attacked with this
diftemper, they become as hurtful as the crow-foot
(ranunculus,) tithymal (fpurge,) or hellebore ; and
thefe too, dangerous in themfelves, become more
fo when thus affected. This ruft, fays Ramazzini
in his Obfervations on the Epidemic Diftemper at
Modena, feems as corrofive as fpirit of nitre. The
paftures corrupted by it were fo fatal to cattle, that
whole herds were carried off. In 1693, the grafs
was infeded by it in Hefife, and accordingly, fays
Bernard Valentine, the cattie died there by whole
droves. The fame happened in Carniola in 17 12,
and in theFerrarefe in 1715; and the fame confe-
quences enfued. Rye which has the fpur is not
only fatal to men, but occafions internal and ex-
ternal ulcers in hogs and geefe.
In the months of July and Auguft, 1756, there
was a mortality among the cattle in Minorca, which
having been tranfported thither, could not bear
the
398 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
the heat of the climate, as was mentioned before.
The herdfmen who attended them fell Tick ; but
the difeafe was much more fevere in thofe who had
been fo imprudent as to eat of the flefh of the fick
cattle ; for all of them was feized with a malig-
nant fever, accompanied with a gangrene which
fhewed itfelf on the fecond day, efpecially at the
elbow and heel.
The rufl- is to grafs, what a corrupted ftatc is
to flefh : If flefh in this (late occafions fevers
amongft men, why fhould not vitiated plants have
a fimilar effed on cattle ? Independent of this,
there are plants which are in themfclves prejudicial
to cattle. We fee them frequently die in marfliy
ground, whilft thofe fed on the neighbouring heights
are healthy. In our pafl:ures, hurtful plants grow
among the good, and the care of feledling the
latter is left to the cattle. It is true that the Cre-
ator has indued them with an inftindl to diflinguifh
the hurtful from the good ; but the former often
grow fo clofe to the latter, that it is almoll impof-
fible for them to crop the one without eating of
the other. We fee the crow-foot growing every
where : All the fpecics of it contain an acrid juice,
efpecially the parfley-leafed marfh crowfoot, ranmi-
culus palnjiris apii folio ^ otherwife called htrha fcele-
rata^ a name which fufficiently indicates its noxious
quality. This grows by the fides of rivers, and
is indeed not fo often met with as the acrid up-
right meadow crowfoot, ranunculus pratenfis erecliis
acris foliis, and the creeping hairy meadow crow-
foot, ranunculus pratenjis repens hirjutus^ which are
very common in our meadows, and though lefs
dangerous to cattle, yet are injurious to fuch as
eat them. The ptarmica vulgaris^ dracujicuUs pra-
tenfis, which fome-likewife call the fneezing-plant,
is not lefs common nor lefs acrid than the ratiun-
ciihis. We alfo find in them the fpurge {tithymalus,)
a very
CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. 399
a very acrid plant, and tlie fmallkind of hemlock*
which ought to be banifhed from them. A care-
ful obferver will remark other plants perhaps
equally prejudicial ; and the hufbandman who fuf-
fers fuch plants to grow in his pallures is inexcufa-
ble : for when one or two of the creatures fed on
them become fick, tlie difeafe foon communicates
itfelf to many, already pre-difpofed, by the- ef-
f«(5ts of their food, to receive the infedion ; and
thus it is infenfibly fpread.
Water, which Ihould be accounted an aliment,
may, by bad qualities communicated to it, contri-
bute greatly to the produdlion of epidemic dif-
^ eafes ; and ftill more fo, when allitted by diftem-
pered or acrid food.
We read in the philofophical Tranfadlions, that,
during the plague in London, there was collecfled
from off the furface of water, expofed in a veifel
to the air, a bkie pellicle, which having been mixed
with bread, and given to a dog, killed him in
twenty-four hours. But without being infedted
by thefe peftilential particles which drop upon it
from the atmofphere in a peftilential conftitution
of the air, the water may be charged with other
fubftances pernicious to animals, taken up whilft
palTmg through mines of lead, copper, &c. It
ibmetimes carries with it gypfous matters and fele-
nites, which may form concretes or obftrudions, and
caufe many difeafes. The waters in Minorca are of
this kind : having too fhort a run to drop the earthy
particles with whicli they are loaded, they conftantly
form ftrong concretions adhering to the fides of
the veflclsin which they are contained. Standing,
heavy, flimy water, loaded with many infeds and
their eggs, as well as with many particles from
the animals and vegetables which die and rot in
them, is the caufe of many difeales to cattle which
. are often obliged to drink of it. Water is bQth
the
400 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
the mod univerfal diflblvent, and the apteft vehi-
cle for carrying noxious particles into the blood.
Standing putrid water is not more pernicious by
reafon of its vifcidity, than it perhaps is on ac-
count of vaft numbers of fmall worms which are
fwallowed along with it, and live and grow in the
ftomachs of cattle ; as do alfo their young brood.
Thefe by their motion irritate, and by pricking in-
flame the (lomach and inteftines, from whence
proceed fpafms and convujfions, fomewhat fimilar
to what arifes from the ufeof acrid or diftempered
food : for thefe too irritate the (lomach and intef-
tines ; and the ill effedl that will follow is an ac-
celeration of the periftaltic motion of the intef-
tines ; whence more frequent difcharges, and even
bloody flux. The acrimony, being fometimes fo
ftrong as to erode the coats of the llomach and
inteftines, occafions inflammations and intolera-
ble pain, convulfions, &c. and the infpedion of
the dead bodies fhews us, that in contagious dif-
eafes, the ftomach has been inflamed, and that
the internal coats, by the livid fpots in them,
which are fometimes continued down the whole
length of the intefliines, had a tendency to a mor-
tification or gangrene.
Of the Cure cf the contagious DIfeafes of Cattle.
IT has been already faid, that the conftitution
of the air is one of the general caufes of con-
tagious difeafes among cattle. M. Le Clerc,
treating of the epidemic difeafes which defolated
Ruffia, lays down the following rules forjudging
of the nature of contagious difeafes, and of the
method by which they may mort probabl) be cured.
*' An unexpe(5ted diftemper," fays he, fuppofing
the cafe, *•' breaks out at once with alarming
*' fymptoms and terrible effects, and communi-
'' cates
CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. 40[
caies itfelf from creature to creature. The ef-
fe(5\s of this diftemper, howfoever complicated
they may be, teach me the time, the order, and
the means of correding an evil arifing. from a
caufe unknown. Nature aifo ("hews me, by the
crifis fhe brings on, ,the manner in which the dif-
order fhould be expelled. Moreover, I attentive-
ly confider the qualities of the air we breathe, the
fituation of the place, the qualities of the foil, the
kind of life which the inhabitants lead, the difor-
ders which ai the fame time afFed: cattle or
plants, the neighbourhood of mines, marfhes,
(landing water; and if I do not trace the caufe in
any oF thefe, I look back, and fearch for it in
things already pad. I refled: on the feafons 'an-
terior to the diforders: 1 examine the time, the
courfe, the duration, the anticipation, the chan-
ges, the temperature, and finally the mixt or
extraordinary qualities of the feafons, and the
winds which have been moft frequent during that
tithe. I then refled on the nature of the dileafes
which thefe variations have given rife to ; nor do
I lofe fight of the changes thefe difeafes have un-
dergone. If in my relearches I at length find
one or more caufes capable of producing the dif-
order which I was unacquainted with, I compare
the effects of the diftemper with the power of the
caufe, and then draw my conclufion from their
re(emblance, or analogy. Have foutherly winds
reigned longP I anfwer, that thefe winds are na-
turally pcftilential : they may therefore produce
peftilential fevers. Do the mixed or extraordina-
ry qualities of the feafons, their heat and moifture
united, occafion the diftemper ? The efFeifts, be-
ing truly difcovered, make known the ftate of the
fluids and folids during and even after, fuch a
conftitution of the air. The diforder being known,
(as far as our limited knowledge can reach) 1
form my indication of cure. I guard tFie infedted
D d " body
402 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
" body againft the efFeft of the prefer) t venom, by
" g'^ing of choice, fuch medicines as have been
" employed with the greateft fuccefs in fuch difeafes
" as have been particularly marked by fimilar ef-
" fecfts. Thefe are the means of coming at the
*' knowledge of venom ; a knowledge which is not
" otherwife fufficiently manifefted to our fenfes.
*' Does the intemperature of a feafon give me room
" to think that it is the efficient caufe of any difor-
*' der ? I have immediate recourfe to the hydro-
" fcope and engyfcope. The firft informs of the
*'• real ftate of the air ; the fccond gives me an in-
*' fight into the nature of the particular faits then
" difFufed in the atmofphere(^). I then expofe to
" the air every fubllance which the fahs of the air
" can alter, as filks died of fuch particular colours
*' as are tarnifhed by the nitrous or fulpherous acid,
" and are turned black by the vitriolic acid. I
*' moreover obferve the alterations which the va-
" pours of dew have produced on white linen be-
" fore it has been waflied with ley or (bap."
In all the cattle which have died of contagious
difeafes, and have been opened, there have been
evident marks of inflammation and putrefadtion.
Thefe diftempers may therefore be reduced to the
putrid and the inflammatory kinds. Putrid difea-
fes differ among themfelves, as do likewife the in-
flammatory : but that difference confifts only in the
greater or lefs degree. The epidemic diftcmper of
1690 fhewed itfelf with puftules. Whenever erup-
tions appear on the Ikin, it is a certain proof that
the cutaneous veffels are obftruded with a matter
that cannot circulate in fo minute velfels, and there-
fore an inflammaiion anfes. In almoft every crea-
ture that was opened in i6g2^ there was found in
the lungs a fuppuration, which muft have been pre-
ceded
(a) The curious may likewife confult on this fubjeft, Les
Experiences Phys. de Poliriiere, Tom. II. p. 306, ^ feq.
CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. 403
ceded by an inflammation. The diftemper which
proved fo fatal to the cattle in Lower Hungary in
the year 17 12, appeared with puftules which con-
tained an- extremely foetid matter. The flench of
that matter, and of the humour which flowed from
the mouth and nofe, proved that a putrefa6lion was
joined to the inflammation in that difeale. The
author who has defcribed the epidemical confl;ituti-
on at Augflburg, declares the diftemper of the cattle
was putrid and inflarnmatory. In the contagious
difl:emper which prevailed in 1740 and the following
years, the fever appeared to be inflammatory, ma-
lignant, and putrid. The contents of the firll fto-
mach were very putrid, and the air which proceed-
ed from it was extremely foetid: thofe of the fecond
looked as if, ihey had been dried: it's membranes
were black, gangrened, and eafily torn to pieces ;
as were alfo the membranes of the third ftomach
and of the inteftines, which likewife contained fome-
times purulent matter. Black fpots and hydatides
were obferved on the liver, the lungs, and on the
meninges of the brain. In the cattle which were '
opened in Minorca in 1756, traces of inflammation,
terminating in mortification, were obferved in al-
mofl: all the bowels. The appearance of the fhcep
which died of the fmall-pox in the neighbourhood
of Beauvais, likewife confirms that the diforder was
highly inflammatory and putrid.
■ As It has conft:antly appeared upon opening the
bodies of cattle which died of contagious diftem-
pers, that the difeafes were either inflammatory or
putrid, the method in which thefe diforders fhould
be treated is hereby pointed out. When they are
inflammatory, the firlf intention (hould. be to cool
the too-great heat of the blood, to leflen it's rare-
faction, the velocity and force of it's motion, in or-
der to take off or leifen the obftrudiions in the ca-
pillary veflels. Thefe purpofes are anfwered by
plentiful bleedings, by fo much the more neceflary
D d 2 in
404 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
in' cattle, as the- acd
the dogs.
CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. 431
room to think it not contagiDus. Numbers of
dogs died in feveral parilhes, which had eaten of
theflefh of the difeafcd cattle i but others which
had not eaten of it died likewile, and fome conti-
nued to eat daily of it without being incom-
moded.
" In the month of May lad [viz. in 1^63]
Tome complaints appeared on the tongues of the
horned cattle in a few contiguous parifhes ; but
that was only a falfe alarm, for the complaints
went off without doing any mifchief In June,
and in the beginning of July, the reigning dif-
temper fhewed itfelf among the fheep, and has
committed fuch havock as not to leave one of them
in fome places ; and in others, the few that do
remain are abandoned by their fhepherds and left
to die, literally fpeaking, like rotten fheep, with-
out any care being taken of them.
" The mortality among the horned cattle,
horfesand other animals, has been fatal principal-
ly to two parifhes fince the end of July. It now
fpreads on all fides, though with lefs havock in
fome places than in others.
" The firft fymptom obferved in them as their
abflaining from food. I do not mean to fay, that
no other fymptoms precede this ; but the keepers
of the herds, little experienced in, and as little
attentive to, fuch objects, do not diitinguifh them.
This prelude awakens attention. The creatures
are obferved to be melancholy, to hang their heads,
to have cold and drooping ears, rough hair with-
out its ufual luftre, loins fallen and beating, the
belly hard and full, the whole body wreathed and
feeming to be difpofed to make efforts to urine.
The urine which they void is often as clear as water;
It is feldom that any thing pafles by flool, and
chewing of the cud ceafes in the horned cattle. In
a few
432 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
a few hours after, if no tumours appear on thd
furface of the body, they are feized with a fliiver^
ing, their eyes become dull and wairy, a tough
fnivel ifTues from the mouth and nofe, they lie
down and die quietly, or are more or lefs convulf-
ed. In this extremity they ftretch their heads
out frequently, pant for breath, fetch long fighs.
and fometimes too they cough. Thefe fymptoms
often come on fo rapidly, that the creature dies
before they have been feen : many bullocks have
dropt down dead undc;r the yoke. The quicker
the fucceffion of thefe fymptoms is, the greater is
the danger. A violent fhivering is always fatal.
When the fymptoms com.e on more gradually,
there commonly is no (hivering, but if there be,
the danger is in proportion to its violence and du-
ration. It fometimes happens that tumours ap-
pear indifferently in all parts of the furface of the
body. They fometimes remain fixed in the part
where they firft appeared ; at other times they
difappear, to (hew themfelves el fe where ; if they
vanilh intirely, the creature dies ; if, on the con-
trary, they increafe m number, and on the parts
lead effential to life, whilfl the creature ftill retains
its ftrength, there is room to hope for a recovery.
Daily experience begins to prove, that the cure
depends eilentially on the charader of thefe. tu-
mours as approaching the neareft to a phlegmon,
and on their good iifue.
" The tumours are .not of the inflammatory
kind. They feem firft of all to affed the muf-
cles. The part affeded feels hard, without being
much fvvelled. Soon after a humour infmuates
itfelf into the cellular membrane around,
which relaxes the fibres (leeped in it, enervates
them, and raifes a lump in the ikin. If it is not
immediately difcharged by an opening, its ftay
produces
CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. 453
produces a gangrene which foon fpreads farther ,
or if the humour falls on any of the bowels necef-
fary to life, the creature dies before the gangrene
has made much progrefs. Thefe tumours aie
flabby, and yield only a thin reddifh fanies. If a
fuppuration comes on, all does well \ the creature
recovers llrengih, and appetite to eat. If, on
the contrary, there is only a thin difcharge with-
out fuppuration, the cure goes on but flowly, the
creature languifhes and fmks, till by the falling
off of all the gangrened floughs, the wound ap-
pears well coloured, and the cattle themfelves
lick it with their tongues in order to heal it.
" The gangrene which fucceeds this tumour is
of a very particular kind. The cellular mem-
brane and the flefh feem to be rather macerated
than rotten. They look of a pale colour inclin-
ing to livid ; and though their fibres feem difunit-
ed, they retain a pretty firm confiftence : but the
flough which cafts off before the cure is black,
foetid, and quite mortified. If the tumours con-
tinue long in a lax flaccid ftate, there is great
danger of the matter's being realTumed into the
blood, and confequently of its falling the more
violently on fome other pare. This happened to
feveral creatures of difl^erent kinds. They died,
either becaufe the difcharge was interrupted, or
becaufe it came out bat imperfedtly. The more
fenfible the difeafed flefii is, the greater is the
room to hope for a cure; and the more infenfible
it is, the greater is the danger.
*' When the tumours from being flat, as they
are at firft, rife higher into a round circumfcribed
form, becoming at the fame time more firm and
claflic, it is a fure fign that nature is getcing the
better of the difeafe, by changing that thin dif-
charge into a tumour of the inflammatory kind ;
which being in a convenient place, always ends
F f well.
434 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
well. The weaknefs and faintnefs foon change for
the better when ihefe favourable figns appear.
The flies of every kind, which, attracted by the
fmell of the ficknefs, fettle on difeafed creatures
in greater numbers in proportion to their weak-
nefs and inability to fhake them off, leave them
likewife in proportion as their ftrength returns.
A livelinefs and defire of eating fucceed their
former dull date.
" The humour contained in thefe tumours,
fhewsitfelf fometimes from the very beginning to
be of great acrimony, almofl cauflic. M, Drou-.
hct, furgeon at Point I'Abbe, has obferved that
having opened one of thefe tumours on the inner
and upper part of a thigh pf a bullock, the hu-
mour difcharged from it dripped off the hair
in twenty-four hours, as if the part had been
deeped in boiling water. The bare fkin appeared
very red and inflamed. The tumours which fhew
themfelves on the bread: of a horfe are the mod
dangerous ; and on the contrary thofe which are
formed in the part correfponding to that which is
called the dew-lap in a bullock, are the lead dan-
gerous. Thofe which come in the muzzle, mouth,
or fundament of any creature, prognodicate the
word of events. It is in this lad cafe in particular,
that the creature, either whild dying, or when
dead, bleeds at the mouth, or nofe, or fundament,
and fometimes at all of thefe together.
" One of the fymptoms mod commonly met
with on tl^e opening of the dead bodies, is a want
of digedion. The whole intedinal canal is generally
empty, while the domachs are full, and as it were
crammed with grafs which is more or lefs hard in
the tliird domach of animals which chew the cud.
This happens though they have ceafed to eat for
ft*veral days before their death ; and even when a
fudden
CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. 455
fiidden death takes them off before they have dif-
continiied to eat.
" The blood taken from the Tick creatures co-
agulates rtadily, and is foon covered witli a thick
hard cruft, of a whitifh colour, a Httle inclining
to yellow. Bleeding, when properly timed, has
had fenfibly good effecfls ? but when done at an
impropi^r time, the confequences have always
been fatal. Moil of the drenches hitherto given
have feemed to haflen death, according to the re-
port of thofe who have made the greateft ufe of
them.
^' Though the caufes of epidemic difeafcs are
feldom known, yet I think we may impute thedif-
order here fpoken of to the too long continued moif-
ture of the air, owing to conftant rains, fogs,
and ftorms, which have not ceafed during the
whole of this year [1763]. To this may be add-
ed, that the moiflure, which had penetrated
deep into the earth, may, rifmg again, have
fpread in the air uncommon exhalations, which
may likewife have greatly affected the animal oeco-
nomy. But as difquifitions of this kind lead lit-
tle to the cure, I fhall not dwell any longer on
them, •
" This epidemic difeafe has fo great a refem-
blance with what we call in man, a putrid malig-
nant, purple and pedilental fever, that I do not
fcruple to give it thefe names in other animals.
So much is it of the fame (lamp, that I met v/ith
three men in the country, on whom the anthrax
ortrue peftilential bubo had appeared; probably
owing to their being (b much among the infe(fted
cattle. Though, for want of judicious obfervers
among thofe who watch over tl:e brute creation,
we have not a regular account of the firft fymp-
toms by which the approach of the difeafe might
be determined i yet, from the fymptoms above-
F f 2 mentioned,^
436 A TREATISE on CATTLE,
mentioned, there were evident figns of an inflam-
mation in the beginning, as will appear to every
intelligent reader, from the recapitulation of them
here made. The violence of the fever, and the
concomitant putrid difpofition of the air, and al-
io of. the infection communicated, foon brought
on a putrid ftate of all the fluids, as appears no
lefs evidently from the fymptoms already menti-
oned.
" During the courfe of my inquiries, I found
but one peafant who could give any account of
the pulfe. This man, examining whether any tu-
mour yet remained in a cow, put his hand bet weep
the upper part of the fore-leg and the bread, and
felt a frequent and ftrong pulfation of the artary,
which anfwers to the axillary in men. The ani-
mal was then feeding -, but it foon loft all defire to
eat, was thereupon judged to be diftempered, and
died fpeedily after.
*' The pulfation of the arteries is eafily felt in
moft cattle, and particularly that of the temporal,
the axillary, and the crural. The carotid artery
in a horfe is frequently perceivable by the eye, in
that part where the neck joins to the breaft v and
the artery may likewife be felt in that pare of the
leg of a horfe which anfwers to the ankle in man;
and the crural artery is eafily felt in fheep.
" The excellent Dr. Hales, who let no inquir}^
efcape him which he thought might be of ufe, has
given, in his Haemoftatics, the number of pulfa-
tions which the arteries of different animals make
in a minute. He counted forty-two in a minute
in a horfe full grown and at reft ; fixty-five in a
very young colt; fifty-five in a colt three years old;
forty-eight in a horfe five years old, but a native
of Limoges, and confequently of a country where
thefe animals are very backward ; thirty two in an
old horfe ; and fifty-five, fixty, and even up to
an
CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. 437
'an hundred in a Iiorfe whofe crural artery was cut
on purpofe for infl:ru
and of which the greateft part of the foregoing is
an abftrad, with an account of the dyfentery, a
difeafe which frequently attacks only particular
G g horfes.
450 A TREATISE on CATTLE.
horfes, and which fometimes becomes general and
even contagious among them. In this laft cafe, it
is always malignant, is conflantly attended with a
fever, in the beginning Hght, but which afterwards
becomes fo high as frequently to be thought the
principal difeafe. Its fymptoms are, fanious, pu-
rulent, bloody ftools ; griping, tenefmus, an enor-
mous heat of the entrails, a falling out of the
fundament, &c. together with all thofe which in-
dicate a fever attended with malignity. On open-
ing the dead bodies, the inttflines are generally
found dry, or dilated with wind, containing a pu-
rulent matter, and alvva)s with figns of inflamma-
tion, ulcerated or gangrened : the fpleen is in-
flamed and putrid, the recftum efpecially is in the
worft (late of any of the buwels, and clots fome-
times of pure blood, fometimes mixed with fa-nies,
are found in it.
If the fick horfe is not too much funk with the
diforder, it is advifeable to bleed him in the ju-
gular. An ounce of oil of olives or of rape, mixed
with half a glafs of wine-vinegar and a glafs of
water, may be given morning and evening. The
common drink fhould be bran- water, with one
third of a decottion of burnt harrfhorn : the food
fliould be only barley, oars, or rye, boiled. An
ounce of diafcordium mixed with bran-water aci-
dulated with vinegar, may be given at times.
Glyffers will be peculiarly beneficial. To this
end, take of wheat-bran four handfuls, leaves and
flowers of mullein of each one handful, feeds of
fenugreek and of flax of each half an ounce. Tlie
bran, leaves, and feeds, fhould be boiled in five
pounds of water to a diminution of one third, /it
the clofe of the boiling, the flowers fhould be added,
and let fland to infufe. Two candles fhould be
melted in the drained liquor for a gl) flier. In cafe
the gripings are violent, a glyflcr may be made
of
CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. 451
of the fame decodion, with, inftead of the can-
dles, three ounces of fyrop of diacodiiim, and
half an ounce of ipecacuanha in powder. This
glyfter has furprifingly good effeds. Towards
the clofe of the diforder, the following deterfive
glyfter may be given. Take leaves of milleper-
tius and of periwincle, of each a hand^il ; boil
them in the fame quantity of water as before di-
rected, and to the fame degree of diminution -,
and to the flrained liquor add two ounces of Ve-
nice turpentine diflblyed in the yolks of eggs, for
a glyfter.
Nitre and camphire are frequently given with
good fuccefs. Take an ounce of nitre, dilTolve
it in tv/o pounds of decodion of forrel, and give
.if at .'twice with ^ horn : or, take nitre and canm
pliire, of each two drams, and make them into n
bolu? with a fufficient quantity of honey.
THE END,
POSTSCRIPT.
The learned and judicious Peter La yard,
of Huntington, M. D. and F. R. S. whofe
refidence in the country, joined to his
univerfal humanity, necefTarily afforded
him frequent opportunities to remark the
beginning and progrefs of the contaj^ious
Diftemper which prevailed among the
Horned-Cattle in this kingdom a few
years ago, particularly from about the
year 1765 to 1770; being then applied to
by Government for his advice, gave the
following as the refult of many carefully
repeated obfervations he had made on that
melancholy occafion *,
Symptoms.
*'^ I ^ H E firft appearance of this infedion is a
1 decreafe of appetite ; a poking out of the
reck, implying fome difficulty of dt-glutition ; a
fhakin^^ of the head, as if the ears were tickled ;
a hanging down of the ears, and deafnefs ; a dul-
nefs of the eyes ; and a moving to and fro, in a
conflant uneafinef?. All thefe figns except the lafl,
increafe till the fourth day : then enfue a llupidity
and unwillingnefs to move, great debility, a total
lofs of appetite, a running at the eyes and nofe,
fometimes ficknefs and throwing up of bile, a
hufky cough, and fliivering. The fever which was
contiinral the three firft days, now rifes, and in-
creafes towards the evening : ihe'pulfc is all along
• Thefe valuable InOruftions were (o carefully mijjaij,
amongll other papers relative to quite diftercnt fuhjcds, that
the rnoll diligent fearch for them, in every place but that
where they were, proved ineffectual whilll this Volume viras
■ printing. Accidep.t brought them to li^ht, after it wi'; quite
finiHied at the Prcfs ; and it is hoped this will be admitted as
an excufe for the rather irregular manner of fubjoimng them
here.
quick,
POSTSCRIPT. 45^^
quick, coritradlcd,- and uneven. A conftant di-
arrhaea, or fcouring of foetid green faeces, a (link-
ing breat!i,'a naufeous fteam from the Ikin, infed:
the air in which the morbid creatures are placed.
Their blood is very florid, hot, and frothy : their
urine is high-coloured : the roof of the mouth and
the barbs are ulcerated. Tumours, or bcnls, are
to be felt under the flefhy membrane of the fkin ^
and cruprions appear ail along their limbs, and
about tlieir bag-:. If a new mi!ch-cow is thus ill,
her milk dries up gradually, her purging is more
.violent, and on the fourth day fhe is commonly
dry. There is fuch fliarpnefs in the dung of tlie
difeafed, that a vifible irritation is obferved during
fome time in their fundament. They grotin much,
'.arc. vvorfe in the evening, and moftly when they
he down. Thefe fympton:s continue increafmg
till the feventh day, on which, generally, though
fom.etimes protraited till the ninth, the crifi?, or
turn, takes place.
" Bulls and oxen are not fo violently attacked
as cows and calves ; and of thefe, cows with
calf, and weakly cow-calves, are in the greateft
danger.
" If a cow witli (!alf, at the critical time of
this difeafe, flips her calf, fhe then takes her fod-
der, and recovers. Some may only give figns oF
fuch abortion, and bear their ca'f fcvt-ral days,
nay even weeks, before they flip it, and yet re-
cover. Calves receive the infecftion from the cov;,
by fucking her milk j and ma^ alfo, if firil feized,
infcdt the cow. •
*' This difeafe takes -place at all times and fea-
fons : but in fummer and autumn it will rage
mod. The fate of the beaft is generally deter-
mined on " the feventh day from the invafion ;
though it has been fometimes delayed till the
ninth.
" If eruptions appear all over the Aiin, or boils
as big as pigeons eggs in different parts of the
body, but efpscially from the head to the tail, a-
454 POSTSCRIPT.
long each fide of the back-bone, and fo ripe as to
difcharge putrid and (linking matter; if large
abfccffes are formed in the horns, or -in any part
of the body ; if the dung is become rnore confid-
ent and firm ; if the urine is thiek,and not quite fo
high coloured-as before; if the bead has had a
fhivering fuccceded by a general glow of heat,
upon which tlie fever has abated, ^nd the pulfe
beats regularly ; if the nofe be fore or fcabbed;
if the eyes look bright and bri(k, and if the biaft
pricks up its ears upon a perfon going into the
hovel, and will eat a little hay or peas; ihefe fymp-
toms will determine that the creature is out of
danger.
But if, on the feventh day, the eruptions,
or boils, are decreafed in bulk, or have totally
didippeared without having broke or difcharged
outvv-ardly ; if the fcouring contmue almoft con-
flantly ; if the breath be very hot, uhile the
whole body, limbs, and horns are cold ; if the.
groaning and difficulty of breathing are increafed ;
if the running from the nofe and eyes is lelTened ;
if the eyes are dim, and funk into the head, with a
perfc(5t flupidity ; if the urine is dark coloiued,
the pulfe intermitting, and a cadaverous fmell
jsobferved -, we may alfuredly pronounce the crea-
ture to be near its end.
*' Ramazzini's emphyfema was met with.
*' All the carcalTes that were opened appeared
extenuated bv the fcouiing. Upon opening ihe
f] 345- •
Cow, (the) may be rendered, and how, fit for the labours ot
hufbandry, 261. 'Thefree-t?im-tin cow, vfh^t, 26z. Which
are the cows that generally yield the mofl: milk, 267, 2^8.
Ufual feafon, and fure marks of a cow's being in heat, 281.
Defcriptionof agood breeding cow, 282. How to be manag-
ed whilft pregnant, at the time of parturition, and after fhe
has brought forth, 283-
Cramp y See Stag-evil.
Croixin Scab (the) in horfes, how cured, 224.
Cutaneous difeafes in horfes, the general caufes of, and methods
of treatment, 213, f//ff. Cured by fea-water, 224.
D.
Dairy, fome general obfervations concerning dairies, 286.
Dela Fop, (M.) his exgeriments on glandered horfes, 128--131.
Diabetesi
INDEX.
Diuhttes, in holies, what, and how curable if they are not too
old, 174. et feij.
Digejiives, proper in ulcerous cafes, 200, 201.
i>///c/trt//o« of the hip-bone, to what owing, how diftinguiflied
and how to be treated, 182-
Docking of horfes, a moll abftird and barbarous cuftom, 84.
/>rt;/?///^of horfes, great benefits refulting from it, 82.
DropJy\\\\Q) in a horfe, how to trear, 228. And in a iheep,
349—351-
E.
Etnbrocation, for a ftrain, 180. To difperfe an inflammatioft
192.
Epidemics, See Contagious Jifeafes.
Epilepfy (the) or falling-ficknefs, in a horfe, defcribed, and the
treatment of it c:)nfidered, 1 18.
five, qualities of a good one for propagation, 333. Treatmefit
of her before and after copulation, 334. Time of geftation,
- -ihid. Cares requifite in her yeaning, 335. Ufes of her
■•'■'iiulk:, 336. How long capable of yeaning, iitd.
Eye-lajhes, (the) how to be treated when habitually turned in
upon the eyes, 123.
jEy^j- (the) of a horfe, how moft properly examined, 10. How
advifed to be treated when affected by the changes of the
moon, 116. In cafes of inflammation, 122. When any extra-
neous body is lodged in them, ib. When the eye-lafhes are
habitually turned in upon them, 123. Collyriums for inflam-
mations in the eyes, ib. How to b« treated when a deflux-
ion falls on them, and in ftrumous cafes, 124. When the
fight is impared, from either external or internal caules, ib.
i25- And in cafes of fcrophulous inflammations, 138
Excrefcencesy how to treat, 212.
Exfoliation of a bone, how to be accelerated and treated,
2U.
F.
farcy, (the) chara£leriftics of, and methods of cure, 225 — 22S.
Fetlock joint, (the) how to treat a ftrain or inflammation in, 183,
Fet(, (the) diforders of, in horfes and how to be treated, 229.
/Wrr, (a) caufes and figns ofgS. How to be treated medi-
cinally according to it's variou? fymptoms, 99 — 1 16.
Foal, (a) when moft properly feparated from it's dam, and how
beft weaned, 69.
Folding of flieep, the utility and manner of, confidered, 324.
Benefits of a covered fold, ib.d.
H h 3 Fotnentation
INDEX.
Tometttation iox aftrain, 179, 184. T o difperfe an inflamrna"
tion, 192. For fweUings in the glands, 209. For a hide-
bound horfe, 219-
Food, the bad qualities of, a caufe of many epidemic difeafes,
39$. Inllanced in feveral cafes, 396 — 399. Means of guard-
ing agaipft it's bad effeds, 416. , ,.,1
Fradurey (a) of a horfe's leg or thigh-bone, how "to "be "Tfeated,
185.
Gallop (the) of a horfe, how moft perfectly performed, 26-
Mechanifm of this motion, 25, n. *.
Ganglion, See Tumours.
Gangrene, (a) how to treat, 193- -
Gargle, (a) for a violent fore throat, 142. .^-.r, -r.'-
Gelding, when and how moft properly pcrformed'on a norfej
, 240. On a bull, 262. On lambs, 331- On pigs, 364-
Gihjon, (Mr.) his^fFefting defcription of the ftag-evil in.horfes,
1 18. And judicious directions for the treatment of the lock-
ed-jaw, 120. His wafl\ for an inflammation of the eyes,
123.
..Giggs, in horfes, what, and how cured, 139.
. Glanders, (the) why probably fometimes occafioned by the
drinking of too-cold water, 58, «. *. Nature of this dif-
ea{e, and fome account of the means that have hitherto been
tried to cure it, 127 — 138-
Glyjiers, how moft properly given to horfes, ijip. "-Why better
adminiftered with a bag and pipe, than with a'fyringe, 91.
'^ Goats, the nature of, 352. When capable of engendering,
353. How to be chofen for propagation, 354. Time of the
female's carrying her young, il>id. Neceffity of fometimes
helping the female when flie yeans, il'. How eafily fed,
iiid. Danger of their getting into cultivated grounds, 355.
Will readily copulate with fheep, il'id. Love the hottelt
. climates, but cannot endure damp places and rich paftures,
i^. Age to which they will breed and live, 356. How
fatted, quality of their flefh, and caufe of it's ftrong fmell,
ihid. Marks of their age, 357. Their utility when dead,
il'id. Goat's milk frequently an excellent medicine, 357.
The breed of goats far more extenfively fpread than, that of
^. flieep, 358. ; .
Grafs, cafes in which fields of grafs are often neceflary to hor-
fes, 80. Cautions to be obferved when a horfe is put to grafs,
Gr£«/i?, the diforder fo called, in horfes, how lo.be ^rpated^
224. i ' ". ' " '
Ho'morrbagef
.1 N D E X.
H.
HifmoirhageyJiOW to ftop an, 191.
Haflfer, (Mr.) his direftions for the building of llxeep-cotes,
■iz^ — 328. His ant-powders and drying-powders for fheep,
339. Receipts for the dropfy in flieep, 349—35'- Method
of treating the fmall-pox in flieep, 414.
Hay, what allowance of, luolVproper for a horfe, 76-
Ride-bound, what, and how to be treated, 219 — 220.
Hippomenes, of foals, niiftake of the ancients concerning the^
69, «■ *•
Hogy See Siuine.
Horns, (the) of an ox, how denotative of his age by their grow.th»
265.
Horfe, explanation of the principal, technical terms applied to
the feveral parts of a horfe, and deftnition of thofe parts, 2.
Defcriptlon of a perfectly fine made horfe, 7. Idea of the
Germans on this fubjeft, 8, «. *. General requifites in a
good working horfe, 9. Some, and what, circumftances
which are defers in a fine horfe, are often good qualificati-
ons in a draught-horfe, 9 — 14. Indications gathered from
the back, 14. From the ribs, ihid. From the belly, 15.
From the flanks, ihid. From the rump, ibid. From the haun-
ches, ibid. From the tail, 16. From the elbow, ibid.
From the knees, ihid.^ From the legs, i 7. From the fliank
ibid. From the back finew, ibid. From the pafterns, ibiJ.
, From the coronet, 18. From the foot, 19. From the hoof,
" ibid. From the thighs, 20. From the hocks, ibid. From
the fetlock, ibid. From the manner of a horfe 's Handing, ibid.
•-, From his walking, 22. From his trotting, 23. From his
"■ '■' 'galloping, ibid. Marks by which to Judge of a horfe's age,
'^' 3^- ^° indication of bis qualities can be gathered from the
' \ colour 'of his coat, 29. A brief account of the horfes of dif-
ferent parts of the world, 36 — 53. Requifites in a good
faddle-horfe for travelling, 54. In a war-horfe, ibid. In
,__,& ftate horfe, 55- Ina ftone-horfe, ibid. In a hunter, ibid.
' Jn a horfe for fetting and iliooting, ibid. In a coach-horfe,
56- In a draught-horfe, ibid. And in a pack-horfe, ibid-
Where and how bell bred, 57. Defcription of the mare and
of the ftallion fitteft for breeding, 59. Expediency of crof-
fmg the breed, 61. In what mrnner this is moft properly
done, 65- Methods of taming wild horfes, 72. Remarks
on the ileep of horfes, 73. On their fnoding, or cafting of
their coats, 74. On the duration of their lives, ibid. And
, ^ on the utility of their remains after death, ibid. Some^ene-
* ^'^tal diredtions for preferying the health of horfes, 75- Parti-
cularly in v/h&t relates to their ftabling, 76- Food, ibid.
'"* ' '*^" H h 4 Drink,
INDEX.
Drink, 77. Soiling, 79. Drefling, and exercife, 82. For
the treatment of their difeafes, fee the articles referred to in the
Contents. Management of a horfe when put to grafs, or
fent to falt-marfties, 216. When made to take antimony, .or
any preparation of mercury, z 1 8.
Homing, in cattle, the caufe of, and cure, 293. Andinfheep,
320.
I.
Jaundice^ (the) fymp/oms of, in horfes, 170. How cured^
ibid.
Indigefion, in cattle, the figns, danger, and cure of, 292.
Inflammation, of the eyes, how to be treated, 122. Of the
throat, 140. The ears, ibid. Yox Inflammation of the Lungs
fee Pleurify . and of the Bowels, fee Colic. Symptoms and
cure of an inflammation in the kidneys, 171. How to treat
an inflammiition of. the fetlock joint, '83. How to
judge of the way in which an inflammation will probably
terminate, and how to treat it accordingly, 192 — -194.
Injedions, (vulnerary) why juflily difufed of late in the dreffing of
wounds, -197.
Itch, See Scab.
K.
Kidneys, (the) how to be treated in cafe of an inflammation,
171. Signs of a mortification in them, 172, Reafon why
the kidney on the left fide of an ox is always larger than
that en the right fide, 263.
Lamb, (a) how to be managed from the time of it's birth till it
is fit for weaning, 335. When and how mofl: properly caftrat-
ed, 331.
Lamenefs, how to diftingulfli the particular feat of, in the fore-
part of a horfe, 180. And in the hind-part, 181. With
the methods of treating each, ibid- How to treat a lamenels
proceeding from a diflocation or a fracture of the thigh bone,
182. From diforders of the feet, 229. ..^^
Lampajfes, in horfes, what, and how cured, 139- ''H^k
Land It's account of the dreadful epidemic diftemper which rag- " ^H
ed in Italy and Germany from the year 171 1 to 1714, and ^|
of the means by which Pope Clement XI. put a flop to it,, "
376— 379-
J.ayhrd, Peter, M. D. F. R. S. his account of the fjmptoms
and cure of the late contagious diftemper among the horned
cattle in England, 452 — 45^-
Lead,
I N D E X.
Z^<2J, powder of, how made, 152. Lead unfit to keep milk
in. and why, zSj'
LeClerCy (M) his method of inveftigating the Qualities of the
air, and thereby judging of the nature of contagious difeaf-
es, 400.
Lethargy, in a horfe, defcribed, and how to be treated, 1,21.
Lii'tr, the appearance of, in flieep that have the rot, 346.
LockeJ-javj, (the) how advifed to be treated in a horfe, 120.
Lucerne, the excellency of, for cattle, 79. Horfes fed with it
want no corn, ihij. It's great merit for foiling horfes and cat-
tle early in the fpring, 89. Is the beft of all plants for fat-
tening oxen, and how moft properly ufed for that purpoft,
278- The fame for flieep, 320.
Luxation, See Strain.
MnlhmJers, v^at, and how to be treated, 224.
Malouin, (iVl.) his experiments on glandered horfes, 131.
Mange^ (the) in a horfe, appearances of, and method of cure,
223.
Mare, defcription of a, for breeding, 59- At what age beft,
ikid. Circumftances peculiarly to be attended toin ftud-mares,
66. By what figns known to be in heat, 67- What feafon
of the vear beft for them to be covered in, 68- How to be
treated when pregnant, ibid. Their ufual time of geftation ;
and how to be treated, if needful, at the time ot foaling,
ibid. General error in regard to the covering of mares, 69.
Age to which mares will continue to breed, 73.
Mutiicntory, to reftore the loft appetite of a horfe, how to make
a, «oo.
Mead, (Dr.) his method of treating venomous bites, 233.
Menjles, (the) in fwine, caufes of, and how to be treated, 369-
Milk, the qualities of good, 283, ri. *. How moft properly
kept in a dairy, 286- Ufes of ewes milk, 336. And of
goats, 357-
Molten greaje, in horfes, What, it's effects, and reinedy, 168.
Mouth, (the) general diforders of horfes in, with their figns and
cures, 139. Of calves, 286. Of oxen, 294-
Mules, how bred, 251, 254, 255. Do they them felyes ever
breed? ibid. Their qualities and ufes, 252. Which forts
reputed beft:, 255. How fed and managed, ihid-
N.
Nicking, an abfurd and ufelefs cuftom pr^ftifed upon herfes
NicolaUf
^
INDEX.
KicolaUy (Dr.) his fuccefsful treatment of great numbers of vn-
fefted cattle, 429—445.
J^itrcy See Salt-petre*
O.
0/z//, more fuitable than barley to the confthution of Englifli
horfes, 77 In what manner beft given to them, 78.
Oil-cakes fatten cattle well, but are apt to render their fat yel-
low and rank, 278. How to remedy this, ibid.
Oils, (Chemical) why very properly laid afide in the modern
,, practice ofphyfic, 88.
Ofmer^ (Mr.) his account of a contagious difeafe in horfes in
the year 1750, and of his oianner of treating it, 104. His
method of killing bots and worms in horfes, 164. His pre-
fcription for hard fwellings, 209. His account of a horfe's
bemg cured of the ftaggers by a large quantity of falt-petre,
217. Of the efficacy of fea-water for the cure of cutaneous
diforders, 224 His opinion of the late contagious difeafe
among the horned cattle, 291.
Ox, (the) charafter and u(es of, 256. Why thought to be,
in general, preferable to the horfe for ploughing: with di-
rections how to harnefs oxen for drawing, 257 — 260. Re-
mark on the fleep of horned cattle, 263. How to know the
age of an ox by his teeth, 264. And by his horns, ibid.
Marks of a good one for the plough, 265. At what age,
and how, molt properly broken for labcur, ibid- When to be
fhod,or cued, 266. Age to which an oxrtiouldbemadeto work,
and after which he fKould be flaughtered, ibid. What kind
of climate thought to be fitteft for black cattle, 267. 288..
Which the beft forts in England, 268. Reafon why large
beef is moft efteemed for faking, efpecially for the ufe of the
navy, 269. Caufe of the difference between the manner of
feeding of the ox and that of the horfe, 270. Caution to be
obferved in the pafturing of black cattle, 273. Reafon why
they never over-eat themfelves, and therefore need not have
their food meafured out to them, 274. W hat forts of food
proper for them, ib. Propriety of mixing fait with their fodder,
ibid. Frequent currying and rubbing them down recommend-
ed, 275. And the cullom of leaving them continually out
of doors blamed, ibij. At what age, and how, beft to fat-
ten them, 276. Sorts of food fitteft for this purpofe, and
the lengtli of time required for it, ibid— -21%. How to
know when a beaft is well flcflied, and when fufficiently fat-
ted, 278, 279- Some directions concerning their ftabling,
food, drink, and exercife, 289, 290. How to be treated
when they have fwallowed any improper thing, 290. la
cafes of indigeilion, 292. and when hovcd, or fwelled.
J N D E X
PaciHs, in a horfe, defcribed, and the general caufes of it 27 _
Paljy, in a horfe, the fuppofed origin of, and belt method of
treating it, 121.
Par/Jey, the excellence of, tor iheep, 321, 348.
Far/ nips, exceUency of, for the food of cattle, and dpecially
of milch cows, 277. For fheep, 321.
Peripneumony, caufe, fymptoms, effetts, and cure of in cattle,
Pitttls in the mouth of an animal, how to cure, 286, 194.
Plague, efFcas of the, on water, 399. Remarkable mftance
of its' lying dormant a very long time, and yet retamingall
•its ftrength, 422.
PUurijy, fymptoms of, in a horfe, and how molt properly treat-
ed, 145— '49. , * .
Polypus, (a) in horfes, howtocure, 13b.
Pvtutoesy good food for horfes, 79. _
Poultice, (a) for a bruife, 178. For a ftram, i79- To pro-
mote tippuration, 193- ^^ . j , j
Paxo^^r of fteel, how made, 151. Of lead, how made, 152.
A powder nearlv analogous to Dr. James's, how made, 21S-
For the Rheum4tifmin horfes, 239. The ant-powders, dry-
ing-powders, and Pomeranian-powders, for fheep, how made
and adminiftered, 339"~340' , . , - . ,.
Precipitate, red, recommended for the cure of ulcers, with di-
rections how to ufe it, 201. . r^
Pringle, (Sir John) his collyrium for an inflammation of the eyes,
i 2? His method of treating the quinfy m man, recommend-
ed for the ftrangles in horfes, 1 41 • His excellent method of
treating a pleurify, i47- And an inBamm-atory coUc, 156-
Purvinp, Precautions to be attended to in purging of horfes,
86, 87. Reafon why the operation of a purge is much (low-
er in horfes than in men, 88. And circumftances on which
its greater or lefs (lownefs may depend, ib. Regularly perio-
dical purging a very wrong pradige, and why, 89. Time
and manner in which it is, in general, beft to give a purging
medicine, ibid- Abfurditv of the common method ot uling
V a horn, and a better way propofed, 90. In what cafes a
fpontaneous purging may be looked upon as a falutary criiis,
^ and how then to be treated, 166. How to be checked v/h-
too violent, ib.
a
ea
^'^adrupeds, the motions and vays of going of, defcribed, 24.
. Their
INDEX.
Their dilferent manners of drinking, 58, 244- Andofeat-
'"§> 279- Remarks on their tones of voice, 246.
^ittor, (a) in the hoof of a horfe, what, and how to be treat-
ed, 2jl.
R.
Raviy requifites in a good one, for breeding, 333. One will
fuffice for twenty-five or thirty ewes, ibid. How long fit for
propagation, and what the duration of his life, 336-
ReaumurfM. de) his account of the manner in which the mag-
gots, called 5j/i, are bred in the inteftines ofhorfes, 158,
163.
Relaxation of the finew, in a horft;, how to be treated, 183.
Rennet, what, and where found, 286.
Rheumatifm. See Arthritis-
Ring-bone, vi^hat, and how to be treated, 211.
Rot {iht) in fliecp, cured by theli* eating burnet, 319, 348.
JVIanner in which" this difeafe affefts their liver, 346. What,
probably, the beft manner of treating it medicinally, 347.
Roivel, (a) when and where conducive to the the cure of an old
ulcer, 203. Of fwellings in the glands, 209. Is ^n fad, an
alterative, and how, 219. Where, generally, beft placed, ib
Rumination, in. animals, accounted for, and why peculiar to
fome fpecies only, 27 1 .
Rupture of the guteor cawl of a horfe, how to treat, 212.
»W//W//o« experienced to cure the bite of a mad dog, 255.
Salt-marjbes ; in what cafes moft beneficial to horfes, 79- Sea-
.:, fait a fuccedaneum for the want ot them, ibid.
\ Sah-fetre, remarkable inftance of the efficacy of, in the cure ot
the iliaggers, 217.
Sand-crack, (a) in the hoof of a horfe, what, and bow to be
managed, 231-
Scab (the) or Itch, a contagious difeafe in fheep, caufes of,
fymyptoms, and methods of cure, 342 — 344
Sea-falt, much liked by cattle, and highly beneficial to them
when mixed with their food, 79, 216.
Sea-vjoler, the eflicacy of, in the cure of cutaneous diforders,
224. A fubilitutefor it, 223.
' Servitz, (M.) his experiments on glandered horfes, 132 — 136-
Seton, (a) recommended for horfes whofe eyes are affected by
the changes of the moon, 116- Hov/ made, r'^^/V/- Is vey>"
efficacious in fcrophulous diforders of the eyes, 137-
Sharp, (Mr. Snrirte!) his plain and excellent directions for the
management of .large wovmds made with a iharp inftrument,
186,
% INDEX..
191. For the treatment of inflanimaiions and abfceflci,
191, 198. Of ulcers, 19S.
Si'eef), general charadler and properties of, 295. have been
(jn Ae decline for fome time paft, in England, with refpect
to their wool, 296. Peculiarly happy fituation ofthisifland
for raifing flocks of fhcep, 297, 32'- Origin of the fine
breed of iViecp in Spain, 298. Means by which it is faid wc
firft obtained a fine breed of thefe animals, 299. What parts
of England now moft famous for ilieep, 298, 301. Some
account of the SpanilK fliecp, of the management of them,
and of their produce, 309 — 3I7. What grounds and fitua-
tions beft tor llieep, 297, 317, 3'8. Sheep ar« remarkabljr
fond of, and benertted by, the milfoil or yarrow, 318. Cur-
ed of the rot by feeding on burnet, 319. Well fed withlu-
cerne, 320. Cautions to be obferved when they feed^on clo-
ver, »^/V/. How to C'jrrcfl the inconveniencies which may
arife from their feeding on turnips, 321. Carrots and parl-
rips excellent and profitable food for them, ihzil. How, and
when nnfl: proper to lead them to pailure, 322, 330. Arc
benefited by being in t'ue open air, but fliould not ever be
kid wet, 323. Direftions how to houfe them in very fevere
weather, 324. When, and how to fhear them, 329.
Reaf^ns why the flock fliould be examined every year, 33c.
How bell fattejied, 331. Cannot be fattened a fecond time,
i^iJ. W hen and how beft to caftrate lambs, /^;W. Remark
en their fat and fuet, 332. Qualities requifite in a good
ram, and in a ewe, for breeding, ^^;^, 344. Yeaning of*
the ewe, ilfiJ. Rearing of lambs, 335. Ules of ewes
milk, 336. Age to which ilieep may live, wiJ. General
caufes of their difeafes, 337. Remedies recommended for
fome of them, particularly fuch as proceed from too much
wet, :538 — 34! . Methods ot treating their cutaneous difeal-
es, 342 — 344. Difordersof the head and throat, 344. 345.-'-
Coughs and Jhortnefs of breath, 345. Difeafes of the bellv,
346. Of the liver, 346 — 348. The dropfy, 349 — 351.
No jfnimais ib rubje, (a) whatf and how to be treated, 203, 210. See alfo,
Tufimirs.
I'egettus, his opinion of the caufes of the ft'ag-evil in horfes,
' and his method of cure, 1 19. His defcriprion of the lethar-
gy in a horfe,- i2i. His method of treating the ftrangles,
140. Defcription of, and method of treating, the furfeii,
222.
yenomnis bites, how to be treated wken Inflided on a horfe,
233—238.
i'entilation oi water recommended, in" order to .purify it, 418.
/'^''^'^o in flieep, caufes and treatment of, 344.
kitriol, wherein often A^ery improperly ^ied hy farriers, 1S3.
Fives (the) or Ajfj in a horfe, what, and how to be treated,
; J43- ^ f -•■• •■
A^ C Ait J, .ohe feveral forts of, and how to be treated, 298 — 207.
k; . W.
IValk (the) how moft perfectly performed by a horfe, 25. It's
* mechanifm, 24, n. *.
Hater, why prdkably when too cold, a caufe of the glanders,
58, n.*. What fort beft for horfes, 77. When frequent-
^«.-iy the caufe of colics, 154. Hail water thought to be very
perniciou<;, 315, n. *. Water may contribute greatly, and
how, to the production of epidemic difeafes, 399,400,417'.
Methods of purifying water, 418.
^w/, %e Engliih, has been on thecfedine for fome time paft,
ia
•>
INDEX.
in regard to it's quality, 296. The feveral forts of SpaniiL
wool, and which moll efteenied, 298, n. *. Nature and
qualities of the Irirti wool, 3oi. Of the Dutch and FieniifTi
wool, 302. Of the Swediili wool, 303. Of the Frencii
wool, ihij. Of the Italian wool, 304. Of the German,
Polifh, Ruffian, and Tartarian wools, 305. Proofs how
far the nature of wool may be affefted by the climate of a
country, ihij. The wool of North America faid to be in
general better than the Englifli, H'id. n. *.
fVorMs, in horfes, the forts of, defcribed, 157. And how to
be got rid of, 164, 165- See Bots. An extraordinary fort
of wprms found in the livers of flieep, 347.
IVoundi, made with a fharp inftrument, the treatment of, un-
der their feveral ufually-attendant circuniftances, 186 — 191,
i97- The treatment "of gun-fliot wounds, 206.
Tqrrcnu, or milfoil, an excellent food for fheep, and highly
pleafing to them, 318.
ERRATUM. /. 300. /. I. for holding, xe^di folding.
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